UNICEF seeks new solutions for sanitation in cold climate in Mongolia

©UNICEF Mongolia/2015/

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia - Poor sanitation and hygiene conditions were estimated to cost the Mongolian economy 35.5 billion MNT (US$ 26 million), or 0.5% of GDP.

With the population of only 3 million people, nearly half of Mongolians live in its capital and in poor and deprived areas around the city. Winter time in Mongolia is long and the temperature can go down as low as -40°C, with permafrost throughout much of the country for most of the year. In these challenging geographic conditions, access to basic social services is limited for the most vulnerable populations, and this is particularly true for water and sanitation. 

Mongolian girl goes back to school after a decade

Uyangaa chats happily with her classmates, using sign language. © UNICEFMongolia/2017/ Mungunkhishig Batbaatar

“My name is U-Y-A-N-G-A-A with a long A-A at the end” says Uyangaa, using sign language that she has just learned at school. It’s difficult to believe that, until recently, this joyful 16-year-old had been isolated and lonely, excluded from school for the last ten years.