6 December 2021. Toby Mendel, the Executive Director of the Centre for Law and Democracy (CLD), will today be presented with the Mongolian Friendship Medal by Mongolia’s Ambassador to Canada at a formal ceremony in Ottawa, Canada. The Friendship Medal, one of the highest honours that can be conferred on a foreigner by the Government of Mongolia, is being awarded in recognition of Toby Mendel’s contribution to democracy, and freedom of the press and expression in Mongolia.
“I feel deeply honoured to receive the Friendship Medal from the Government of Mongolia,” said Toby Mendel. “It has been an immense privilege to work for many years in partnership with the Mongolian Government and civil society colleagues to advance foundational human rights that underpin Mongolian democracy.”
Toby has been engaging in law reform and capacity building work in Mongolia since 2002, first with ARTICLE 19 and then with CLD. This has included legal analyses and drafting support for Mongolian laws and bills, such as the Law on Information Transparency and the Right to Information, adopted in 2011, and various versions of the draft Broadcasting Law. CLD has also undertaken regular missions to the country to hold training workshops, discuss legal reform opportunities with stakeholders and assess the media law landscape. Additionally, CLD has been engaged with Mongolian media law development processes in various external fora, including a 2013 UNESCO-led National Media Conference that assessed the country’s media sector in accordance with internationally accepted media development indicators.
CLD looks forward to continuing the important work of advancing freedom of expression and other key human rights in Mongolia in the years to come.
For further information, please contact:
Toby Mendel
Executive Director
Centre for Law and Democracy
Email: toby@law-democracy.org
+1 902 431-3688
www.law-democracy.org
twitter: @law_democracy
