“Aquafire”, an Arts Council of Mongolia production to be held on December 24 at the Corporate Hotel and Convention Centre in Ulaanbaatar, examines patriarchy, democracy and gender equality through the eyes of both men and women, and challenges the gender stereotypes associated with national cultural identity. 

Lending their talents to the landmark production are dancer and choreographer Odbayar Batsuuri, who is a member of the Chicago-based Hedwig Dances ensemble, composer Purevsukh Tyeliman, film-maker Ikhbayar Shagdarsuren, Swiss trumpet player Matthieu Michel and American stage and lighting designer Barry Steele. The performance features three parts, “Fire Dreamed of Aqua”, “Aqua Falls in Love with Fire” and “Aquafire”, set to live music and backed with video art. 

In conjunction with the performance, the Arts Council of Mongolia will host an Artsee talk series on gender equality and stereotypes with the production team, a gender-equality activist and other professionals on December 17 at the Corporate Hotel.

The project, funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), will be implemented by The Asia Foundation in collaboration with the City Municipality of Ulaanbaatar for the next four years. 

The project launch brought together more than 150 representatives from the Capital City Governor’s Office and the Mayor’s Office, Ulaanbaatar districts and khoroos and civil society to discuss the project’s goals, outcomes and future collaboration.

“We are working to strengthen Ulaanbaatar city’s self-governance based on direct citizen participation by ensuring the transparency and openness of our state affairs and improving citizens’ access to public services,” said Head of Ulaanbaatar City Mayor’s Office, B. Badral at the launch workshop. “Our ultimate goal is to build a city that is competitive and provides a safe and healthy environment for its residents.”

The project will focus on empowering district and khoroo governments to deliver public services and involve citizens in budget decision-making. To achieve these objectives, the project will work closely with local governments and citizens to ensure that services and investments respond to citizens’ priorities.
 
“This project marks a milestone for SDC’s presence in Mongolia,” said SDC Director of Cooperation Markus Waldvogel. “It is the first time that SDC has decided to cooperate on improving governance and furthering decentralisation in an urban area, having the capital city municipality as a partner.”

Mr Waldvogel said the project would empower residents of ger areas to participate in, and take responsibility for, improving their livelihoods. It was about fostering citizens’ roles in developing democratic, accountable and transparent local government.

“Now, in multi-partnership, we are pooling our teams and know-how to work hand-in-hand with the city to develop this new project,” said Meloney Lindberg, The Asia Foundation - Mongolia Office Country Representative.

“The project goal will be achieved through the attainment of five outputs, which are: Increasing citizens’ participation in budgeting and planning; improving public service delivery; strengthening the government’s capability, and institutionalising capability-strengthening programmes.”

The project selected 33 khoroos in Ulaanbaatar’s ger areas spanning all nine of the city’s districts, and will reach an estimated 330,000 citizens. The project will be implemented in partnership with civil society organisations represented by the Open Society Forum, Transparency International and the Centre for Democracy Education.