UNICEF gives Tuvan children a better chance to learn with mother-tongue textbooks

Uudoo is rehearsing the poem she wrote in Tuvan that she will recite at her graduation ceremony.
©UNICEFMongolia/2017/OdgerelMyagmar

Nearly 1,800 kilometres from Ulaanbaatar on the western-most edge of Mongolia, remote Tsengel soum in Bayan-Ulgii province is probably the only place in the entire country where children grow up speaking three different languages – Tuvan, Kazakh and Mongolian. Tuvan children speak their native language at home and learn Mongolian when they start school. Some also learn Kazakh from their friends in the neighbourhood, which is predominantly Kazakh, or from their classmates when they start secondary school, which is also attended by Kazakh children.

Improving mental health for Mongolia’s young people

As a school physician, Dr Naran regularly holds health lessons for children.
©UNICEFMongolia/2017/AriunzayaDavaa

Dr. Naran works in a school in remote Ulaan-Uul soum in Khuvsgul province, more than 900 km away from the capital, Ulaanbaaatar. As well as looking after the physical well-being of the children under her care, she has recently been trained to provide counselling.

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.

Learning at home

“The name Amina comes from an ancient Arabic word which means honest and helpful”, says mother Maral Khuandag.
© UNICEF Mongolia/2017/ Mungunkhishig Batbaatar

“When I grow up, I’m going to have three jobs – a policewoman, a doctor and a teacher!” says 5-year-old Amina. This ambitious little girl, from a Kazakh ethnic minority family, lives with her parents, brother and sister in Khan-Uul district of Ulaanbaatar, the nation’s capital. In the same breath, she adds, “But I might become an artist because I learned how to sing and draw from the teacher on the TV kindergarten.” Amina, along with more than 2,000 other preschool children, has been following the UNICEF-supported home-based, distance learning programme aired on Mongolian National Broadcaster (MNB), the country’s biggest TV channel. The video lessons are supplemented by a workbook for children and a guidebook for parents, as well as regular counseling and monitoring from local education specialists.

UNICEF and Khuvsgul province spreading good practices on MHM

New latrines for girls

©UNICEF Mongolia/2016/AmarsanaaJ

In the beginning of July 2016, a pleasant surprise was awaiting girls, who came to “Uran Dush” Summer Camp from different parts of Khuvsgul Aimag (Province) as well as other parts of Mongolia. Located in some 20 km from the Provincial Center, Uran Dush is the biggest and most popular summer camp in Khuvsgul Aimag. The “surprise” was brand new latrines for girls, built in a few meters distance from the old wooden latrines, which seemed to have been there for ages and looked as if they might collapse any time.

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.

UNICEF seeks new solutions for sanitation in cold climate in Mongolia

©UNICEF Mongolia/2015/

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia - Poor sanitation and hygiene conditions were estimated to cost the Mongolian economy 35.5 billion MNT (US$ 26 million), or 0.5% of GDP.

With the population of only 3 million people, nearly half of Mongolians live in its capital and in poor and deprived areas around the city. Winter time in Mongolia is long and the temperature can go down as low as -40°C, with permafrost throughout much of the country for most of the year. In these challenging geographic conditions, access to basic social services is limited for the most vulnerable populations, and this is particularly true for water and sanitation. 

Mongolian girl goes back to school after a decade

Uyangaa chats happily with her classmates, using sign language. © UNICEFMongolia/2017/ Mungunkhishig Batbaatar

“My name is U-Y-A-N-G-A-A with a long A-A at the end” says Uyangaa, using sign language that she has just learned at school. It’s difficult to believe that, until recently, this joyful 16-year-old had been isolated and lonely, excluded from school for the last ten years.

Hacking for youth health

The atmosphere crackles with excitement as more than 140 young people cram into one room, ready to spend the next two days designing websites and mobile apps. They are taking part in Hacking for Youth Health, a hackathon set up and run by UNICEF with the help of Canada’s University of Waterloo.

19 teams participate in Hackathon
© UNICEF Mongolia/2017/Mungunkhishig B.

These young creative minds have come together from different parts of Mongolia with one goal: to find innovative technological solutions to address mental health problems and prevent sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and HIV among adolescents and young people.

Unfolding individual potentials: A learning and recreational center gives children room to grow in Khuvsgul, Mongolia

Tamir after completing his puzzle game

©UNICEFMongolia/2017/Mungunkhishig Batbaatar

Rinchinlhumbe soum, Khuvsgul province: “Look, look! I’ve finished this” proudly says 7 year-old Tamir after completing a colored puzzle game in a newly-established learning and recreational center at a local school. He is an outgoing, bright kid who lives in Rinchilhumbe soum, one of the coldest places in Mongolia where the temperature stays around -40°C most of the time during winter.

Emergency nutrition service gives children a new lease of life in dzud affected Mongolia

Local health workers weighing Tsetsgee (January, 2016)
©UNICEF Mongolia/2016/Ganchimeg

“My daughter was underweight and kept getting sick during the winter” says Ms. Orlomsuren, a mother of three who lives in Zavkhan, one of the provinces affected worst by dzud—extreme, harsh winter. She added that she could still remember the long, cold winter nights when she was struggling to put nutritious food on the table for her children, especially her then 2-year-old daughter Tsetsgee. “We were very worried about our little girl and didn’t know what to do when the roads were blocked by snow,” added Ms. Orlomsuren.