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Uuganbat, an active, energetic three year old boy
©UNICEF/Mongolia/2014/Zetty Brake
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His mother,
Urankhishig, 29, says he really wants to go to school. “Every night he prepares
his clothes, like a uniform, ready for the morning to go to school,” she says.
“He gets up really early in the morning to make sure he is ready, just in case
it is time for him to go to school”.
Uuganbat
lives in crowded, rented ger on a small
piece of land in Murun, Khuvsgul Province, northern Mongolia with his mother,
father Tumurbaatar, 27, older sister Solongo, seven and his younger sister
Tungalagtamir six months old.
The family
moved to Murun a little over a year ago and have no family support. They have
no running water and have to walk half a kilometer each way to collect water
from the closest well.
The family is
very poor and survives on welfare payments and income from Tumurbaatar, when he
is able to secure work day laboring. Urankhishig wants to work, but can’t. “It
is hard,” she says. “I need someone to help take care of my children, so I can
work, but I have no one. I am also partially deaf, which makes it hard to get
work”.
A lack of
education also makes it hard to find work. Urankhishig left school after the
third grade, and Tumurbaatar after just one year. “I am worried about my family,” Urankhishig,
as she looks at her young children. ”I want them to be educated and healthy.”
When the
family moved to Murun, Urankhishig was pregnant with her third child and Uuganbat
was underweight and unwell. Luckily the family had been identified as at-risk
by local health workers during their outreach work in the community, as part of
the Reach Every District and Soum strategy (REDS).
Bayasgaltantuya
a nurse at the Dalai-Elberel Family Clinic explains. “When we identified the
family, Urankhishig was five months pregnant,” Bayasgaltantuya says. “We helped
the family register with the various local authorities and made sure
Urankhishig received antenatal care and was registered to give birth. We also
gave her advice on breastfeeding, which she followed.”
They also
helped Uuganbat. “When we first met Uuganbat, he was underweight,” she says. “The
family clinic provided him with multiple micronutrients, including vitamin A
and D, worked with the family to increase their awareness of nutrition and got the
family food stamps. It has made a difference - Uuganbat is now a normal weight
for his age, and much healthier”.
REDS strategy
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| Uuganbat at his home in Murun ©UNICEF/Mongolia/2014/Zetty Brake |
The family’s
situation is not unusual in Mongolia. Despite recent economic growth in the
country, over a quarter of the population lives in poverty, according to the
United Nations Development Program. When talking about child poverty, this
figure is likely to be much higher.
One of the
ways UNICEF, the Government of Mongolia and others are helping address poverty
is through the REDS strategy. The nationwide strategy aims to identify
vulnerable families in Mongolia who need additional support, and to assist them
to access that support. The strategy targets the urban poor and integrates key
health and social services.
Bayasgaltantuya
says the REDS strategy is working. “One by one, we are helping families get
access to shelter, health care, education and welfare payments such as food
stamps or heating fuel subsidies, and to register them with local authorities.
It is making a huge difference”.
Why health matters
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Uuganbat with his mother Urankhishig and younger sister Tungalagtamir
outside their home,
a traditional Mongolian ger ©UNICEF/Mongolia/2014/Zetty Brake
|
Surenchimeg
Vanchinkhuu UNICEF Health Specialist says improving the health of children is vital
in the fight against poverty.
“When a child
is healthy, they are more likely to fully develop and become a healthy adult,
who can participate in society to their full potential,” Surenchimeg
Vanchinkhuu says. “We want every child in Mongolia to have that opportunity”.
“Improving
health services is at the core of UNICEF’s work around the world, and the REDS
strategy is one key way we are doing this in Mongolia,” she says. “The REDS
strategy is providing key low cost, high impact health interventions at the
community level, while helping to build a stronger national health system”.
“Moreover, the
strategy is collecting a lot of good data on the needs of the urban poor,” Dr
Vanchinkhuu says. “This data should create the foundation for future planning
for health and social services and make sure they are reaching those who need
it the most,” she says.
Across
Mongolia, the strategy has helped thousands of vulnerable families. For
Uuganbat’s family, it has made a real difference. Bayasgaltantuya believes the
family will be all right. “I am hopeful for them. I think they will have a
bright future”.
Author
Surenchimeg
Vanchinkhuu, Health Specialist, UNICEF Mongolia
Additional
reporting by Zetty Brake, Communications and External Relations Officer, and
Odgerel Myagmar, Communication for Development Officer, UNICEF Mongolia
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