Financial Education Guide

“Every child is the future of Mongolia. Providing them with financial education is not just our responsibility — it is everyone’s responsibility,” said B. Khongorzul, the newly appointed State Tax Inspector of Munkhkhaan soum, confidently, at the conclusion of her speech to the leaders of the province and soum governor’s offices, as well as general secondary school officials.

Khongorzul is a member and the financial focal point of the Project Soum Level Counsel (SLC) for Save the Children’s “Entrepreneurship-Focused Socio-Emotional Skills for the Most Vulnerable Youth in Rural Mongolia” project. Her job is to ensure that the youth teams’ approved budgets for subgrants are used in alignment with project objectives. She also monitors the preparation of financial reports and expenditure documents, making sure that funding is disbursed on time and in accordance with the project’s schedule.

Among her various responsibilities, B. Khongorzul considers her primary role is to be “providing financial advice to subgrant implementation teams.” After graduating from university, she returned to her hometown to work. She became a civil servant, and two months later, she joined the Project Soum Level Counsel (SLC) as the financial focal point. Initially, she was unsure if she could handle the role, as she had no prior experience working with children.

However, Khongorzul revealed that her doubts were quickly dispelled after attending a financial management training course for project SLC members, organized by Save the Children. In addition to her primary job, B. Khongorzul dedicates one to two days each week to advising 69 children and youth across 16 subgrant teams on financial documentation and procurement. She also submits monthly reports on the SLC’s financial expenditures and independently provides financial progress and final reports on the subgrants to Save the Children. Of these 16 projects, 14 have been successfully implemented, with expenses fully aligned to the budget approved by Save the Children.

Collecting financial documents in accordance with laws and regulations is not an easy task. While advising organizations that have made purchases, B. Khongorzul sometimes receives gratitude and other times faces reprimands. There are times when she collects the financial documents herself or prepares them during her business trips to Ulaanbaatar.

She encourages children and young people to take ownership of their businesses. Khongorzul said she advises her children to learn to file their financial reports on time.

Not every team that participates in the subgrant competition can win and receive funding, but B. Khongorzul listens attentively to all the presentations. She strives to gain a deeper understanding of the winning teams’ project proposals and provides support to help them succeed. For teams that don’t succeed, she offers guidance on improving their financial calculations and enhancing their project proposals for the next round. Khongorzul encourages these teams to refine their proposals and try again. She often says, “My goal is to nurture a new generation of financially disciplined, independent thinkers—individuals who save, build wealth, and adopt an investment mindset. Anyone who can dream can achieve their dream.”

She often expresses gratitude for the personal growth she experiences as a young woman through her work with children and youth. When asked how she manages to balance her government service, masters degree studies, motherhood, and role in the project Counsel, she responded, “It’s not that hard when you have passion. I feel happy to make at least one child financially literate. I wish this project had been available when I was a student. Now that I’m part of it, I want the children in my soum to say that they’ve developed their personal skills and become financially literate through the implementation of their project ideas.”

U.Maral, the coordinator of the Sukhbaatar province branch of Save the Children said, “Khongorzul generously shares her valuable experience with other project SLC members who serve as financial focal points. Her support has been instrumental in the successful implementation of the project. Her commitment to completing tasks on time has been invaluable to us and to the children and youth carrying out subgrants in our soum.”

Within the framework of the “Entrepreneurship-Focused Socio-Emotional Skills for the Most Vulnerable Youth in Rural Mongolia” project, implemented in four soums of Sukhbaatar province, a total of 435 children and youth participated in the subgrant competition. Of these, 194 were selected for their 45 subgrant proposals, resulting in an investment of 133,844,640 MNT in subgrant funding across the soums.