Faces of UNICEF: Batnasan Nyamsuren, Water, Sanitation & Hygiene officer at UNICEF Mongolia

Tell us a bit about your background?

I was born in Jargalant village of Arkhangai province in Mongolia. I studied hydrology at Odessa State Hydro-meteorological University in Ukraine. Before joining UNICEF, I have worked at Mongolian Academy of Science, World Wildlife Fund for Nature and UN Development Programme as researcher and program manager.  My area of expertise is Integrated River Basin Management and it has been very applicable to UNICEF’s work on improving access to and quality of water. For example, we recently supported adoption of “Water Safety Plan” in our program areas to help ensure water is safe for children to drink. This also involved development of guidelines on water, sanitation and hygiene  as well.

World Toilet Day

Typical pit latrine in rural schools

Today is a World Toilet Day (19 November 2015). The aim of World Toilet Day is to raise awareness about the people in the world who don’t have access to a toilet, despite the fact that it is a human right to have clean water and sanitation. Globally, some 2.4 billion people do not have improved sanitation. Poor sanitation, water and hygiene have many other serious repercussions. Many children are denied their right to education because their schools lack private and decent sanitation facilities.