Sanjaasuren Oyun (), also transcribed S. Oyun, is a Mongolian politician and geologist. She is the leader of the Civil Will Party, is the former Minister of Environment and Green Development, and has been a Member of Parliament of Mongolia (

State Great Khural The State Great Khural is the unicameral parliament of Mongolia,Montsame News Agency. ''Mongolia''. 2006, Foreign Service office of Montsame News Agency, , p. 40 located in the Government Palace in the capital Ulaanbaatar. History 191 ...

) since 1998. She is also a former Minister of Foreign Affairs and is the current head of the Zorig Foundation. Now she is new head of Global Water Partnership GWP. In 2003,

Eisenhower Fellowships Eisenhower Fellowships (EF) is a private, non-profit organization created in 1953 by a group of American citizens to honor President Dwight D. Eisenhower for his contribution to humanity as a soldier, statesman, and world leader. The organization ...

awarded Oyun a fellowship program in the United States. In 2006, Oyun was selected as a Young Global Leader (YGL) by the Davos

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(WEF). She has been an active member of the YGL community since. On June 24, 2014, Oyun was elected the first president of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA).

Early life and education

Oyun was born in Ulan-Bator in 1964. In 1987 she finished her studies in

geochemistry Geochemistry is the science that uses the tools and principles of chemistry to explain the mechanisms behind major geological systems such as the Earth's crust and its oceans. The realm of geochemistry extends beyond the Earth, encompassing the e ...

at the

Charles University Charles University (CUNI; , UK; ; ), or historically as the University of Prague (), is the largest university in the Czech Republic. It is one of the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest universities in the world in conti ...

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. In 1996 she earned a PhD in geology from the Department of Earth Sciences at

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

Career

Upon graduating, Oyun began working for a multinational mining company called Rio Tinto. After the murder of her brother S. Zorig, a Mongolian pro-democracy leader, in October 1998, she entered politics. She won the by-elections in her brother's constituency in Dornod, the birthplace of their father Sanjaasuren. In March 2000, she founded the Civil Will Party (, ). The Civil Will Party holds about ten percent of the public's support (as of the 2008 parliamentary elections). She also served as the Vice-Speaker of Parliament (between 2004 and 2005) and the Minister of Foreign Affairs (between 2007 and 2008). She served as a Minister of Environment and Green Development of Mongolia. Since June 24, 2014, Oyun is working as the first president of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) Besides Mongolian, Oyun speaks fluently in Russian, English, and Czech.

Other positions

* Zorig Foundation, Founder and Chair * Mongolian Geological Association, President * Down Syndrome Association of Mongolia, Chair *

Wellcome Trust The Wellcome Trust is a charitable foundation focused on health research based in London, United Kingdom. It was established in 1936 with legacies from the pharmaceutical magnate Henry Wellcome (founder of Burroughs Wellcome, one of the predec ...

, Member of the Strategic Advisory Board on Our Planet, Our Health

Family background

Oyun's mother, Dorjpalam, is famous for her role as a doctor in a well-known Mongolian movie ''Serelt''. Dorjpalam's father was the Russian geographer and scientist Simukov, who fell victim to Mongolia's political purges of the 1930s. Oyun is married with three children. Oyun's father, Sanjaasuren, served as the dean of the Philosophy Faculty of the National University of Mongolia and as Deputy Minister of Education.

References

External links

www.mongolei.de: Interview (in German)
* ttp://www.izn.mn/?page_id=30 Иргэний Зориг Нам: Намын удирдлага (in Mongolian) {{DEFAULTSORT:Oyuun, Sanjaasurengiin 1964 births Living people Members of the State Great Khural Mongolian geologists Politicians from Ulaanbaatar Mongolian people of Russian descent Democratic Party (Mongolia) politicians Civil Will–Green Party politicians 21st-century Mongolian women politicians 21st-century Mongolian politicians Female foreign ministers 20th-century Mongolian women politicians 20th-century Mongolian politicians Women government ministers of Mongolia Buryat people Women geologists 20th-century geologists Charles University alumni Buryat women