Hygiene education is made more accessible to communities in Murun through home-based sessions

The house-to-house hygiene training is in session for both parents.
©UNICEFMongolia/2016/MungunkhishigB

Bayanbaatar’s family is one of thousands of ordinary young families living in Murun city. His wife Delgersaikhan, 34, is a teacher at the “Soroban” Abacus Training center. Bayanbaatar (30) is unemployed currently and takes care of their baby girl Zolboo, who was born slightly less than two months ago. Older child of the couple is a 9 year old boy called Myagmar. Bayanbaatar’s family moved to Murun several years ago from Selenge province in search of a better livelihood.

Photo story: WASH in Schools and Kindergartens in Khuvsgul

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.

Hand washing: Keeping Mongolia’s children healthy

Children washing their hands in rural Mongolia
©UNICEF/MGLA2007-00194/Holmes  

Today is Global Hand Washing Day. Hand washing is one of the most effective ways to save children’s lives. Each year, 1.7 million children under the age of five die from diarrhoea and pneumonia. Washing hands with soap and water, especially after using the toilet and before handling food, helps reduce disease infections by up to 40 per cent, and has far reaching effects on the health and welfare of children and their communities.