Earlier today (29 April), the Mongolian State Great Khural (parliament) approved the Law on Pandemic Preparedness and Response in answer to the economic and social impact of coronavirus as well as the growing threat of an outbreak of infectious diseases in the future. The bill was presented by MP J.Enkhbayar and MP Kh.Nyambaatar.

The Globe International Centre (GIC) and the Press Council urged the Mongolian parliament to recognise the crucial role played by independent news media in the coronavirus pandemic and to ensure that emergency measures to tackle the disease are not used as a pretext to censor news and information on- and offline or implement regressive regulations against media freedom.

Founded in 1999, The GIC is a nonprofit NGO based in Ulaanbaatar; its mission is: “Sustaining Mongolian democracy and civil society through spreading power of information and knowledge”.