Mongolia: Child money programme expansion during COVID-19

This case study was collected through a Call for Good Practices on Reducing Risk across SDG Transitions, launched by the UN DRR Focal Points Group in 2024.

SDGs addressed: 2 | 4 | 8 | 13

When COVID-19 struck, school closures and lost incomes deepened child poverty across Mongolia. Building on evidence from a 2019 climate-cash pilot, the Ministry of Labour & Social Protection and UNICEF led a five-fold "vertical expansion" of the universal Child Money Programme (CMP)-from MNT 20 000 to MNT 100 000 per child. Using the CMP's nationwide beneficiary database and digital payment rails, the scale-up reached 1.2 million children (96.6 % of all children) within weeks. Monitoring and simulations by UNICEF and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) showed sharp poverty reductions, helping secure budget reallocations to extend the top-up into 2021.

Innovation and Success factors

• Prepared systems - an existing database, payment channels and local staff enabled near-instant expansion.
• Evidence-based advocacy - results from the 2019 pilot and rapid social-impact assessment convinced decision-makers.
• Whole-of-UN support - UNICEF convened ILO, FAO, UNDP & UNFPA under a Joint SDG Fund programme to integrate jobs, food and climate lenses.

Key impacts

• Rapid scale-up - benefit rose 5×, injecting ≈ MNT 850 billion (≈ US$ 300 million) into households.
• Near-universal coverage - 1.2 million children supported during the pandemic.
• Poverty reduction - ADB simulation: poverty fell from 28.4 % to 24.7 %.
• Food security - doubled food stamps eased nutrition gaps while schools were closed.
• Budget mobilisation - extra US$ 200 million allocated to maintain the top-up in 2021.

Lessons learned for replication or adaptation

1. System readiness enables speed; adaptive components should be built before crises.
2. Data drives political will; pilots and rapid assessments make the fiscal case.
3. Monitoring sustains support; real-time evidence guided budget extensions.
4. Universal platforms can target shocks; temporary top-ups avoid exclusion errors.
5. Sustainability needs policy anchoring; UNICEF's ongoing advocacy seeks gradual, not abrupt, benefit reduction.

Organisations involved

• Government lead: Ministry of Labour & Social Protection (CMP administrator)
• UN agencies: UNICEF (lead); ILO; FAO; UNDP; UNFPA; UN Resident Coordinator's Office
• Finance & analytics: Asian Development Bank (simulations, monitoring)
• Coordination body: Deputy Prime Minister's Office (pandemic response steering)