Even before it ratified the 2003 Convention in 2005, Mongolia has been very active in safeguarding its intangible cultural heritage. It established a National Centre for ICH in 1997 and had two traditions proclaimed as Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.

At the same time, despite various efforts already made in safeguarding its ICH, Mongolia needs to meet the increasing impact of social changes, globalization and rampant urbanization affecting traditional nomadic lifestyle of its people. UNESCO/Japan FIT supports this further endeavour with a series of better tailored capacity building activities starting with a two-day workshop organized from 28-29 May 2012 in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia to consult with primary stakeholders, assess existing government policies relating to ICH, investigate the roles of involved institutions and identify training needs on ICH. UNESCO certified trainer Ms Noriko Aikawa-Faure assisted this process with facilitating the need assessment workshop. Two other capacity building workshops lined up for Mongolia are a Community-Based Inventorying Workshop planned to be organized in October 2012 and a Workshop on the Preparation of Nomination Files in early 2013.