Having moved from communist state to fledgling democracy in 1990, Mongolia is still struggling against poverty to bring its society up to what it sees as Western standards.

A total of 93 international non-governmental organisations (NGOs) representing 20 countries are currently actively operating in Mongolia. According to the General Customs Administration, most of them work in the education, humantarian, enviromnental, health and agricultural sectors.

More than 100 international NGOs have set up shop in the country, with local NGOs numbering over 5,000 as of 2005. Mongolia is a large country six times the size of the UK, but with a relatively small population of just three million – not much more than Manchester!