Curbing malnutrition is a community effort in Mongolia

Bujinkhuu aka Bujka posing with his puppy for the photo op outside his house.
©UNICEF Mongolia/2017/ Mungunkhishig Batbaatar

“Thank you, doctor! See you next time, doctor!” politely says 4-year-old Bujka while a local nutrition counsellor is readying up to leave after her weekly house-to-house visit. Living under the poverty line in one of the poorest neighborhoods in the nation’s capital, Bujka kept getting sick and was hospitalized four to five times every year until 2016. Although he has never attended kindergarten due to his health conditions and familial concerns, Bujka optimistically says “This year I won’t be sick… And I will never go back to a hospital again.” 

Tackling nutrition during natural disasters

Twin boys Tseveensuren and Tsendsuren love their new sunglasses

© UNICEF Mongolia/2017/Ariunzaya D.

Twin boys Tseveensuren and Tsendsuren, aged two and a half, are all smiles as they don their cool new sunglasses. Tseveensuren, the older of the two, gently puts his arm around his little brother’s shoulders as they pose for the camera. Their mother Otgonsuren, 37, is a single parent who also takes care of her elderly mother. “My boys are like two peas in a pod”, she says, kissing them both on the cheek. “They like the same things and do everything together. And they’re so energetic and active, they don’t sit still for a moment!”

The family lives in Bayanbulag soum (district) in Bayankhongor province, southern Mongolia. Situated 2,200 metres above sea level among magnificent, snow-capped mountains, Bayanbulag soum has a subarctic climate with mild summers and extremely cold winters.