Photos: Water and sanitation for schools

Children from remote areas outside Tarialan soum, Khuvsgul province, describe the challenges of spending the winter at boarding school. UNICEF is upgrading the water, sanitation and hygiene facilities at the main school and dormitory, under an AusAID-funded project.

To view the full photo captions, expand the gallery and click 'show info' in the top right corner.

“I want to be a teacher”: creating a Child Friendly Community in Nalaikh

Sambuu with his daughters and granddaughter
© UNICEF Mongolia/2013/Andy Brown

Ten-year-old Sarantugs lives with her parents and ten siblings in Nalaikh, a remote district of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. She will be enrolling in fourth grade in September, and is one of few children in the family who can attend school. Her father Sambuu, 59, used to work as a plumber in the local governor’s office but he had a stroke and had to leave his job. He is counting the days until his sixtieth birthday, when he will be able to claim a pension.

Nalaikh is an industrial district that was established around a coal mine that supplies Ulaanbaatar. It has a mixed-ethnic community including Mongolians and Kazakhs. Sambuu has nine children plus grandchildren, some of whom are disabled. They are registered as a poor family and receive food stamps plus financial assistance of 10,000 tugriks per adult and 5,000 per child.