Fathers’ cooking healthy meals for their kids

Erdenebat scoops micronutrient enriched soup into a bowl
© UNICEF Mongolia/2014/Byambaragchaa Magvandorj

Erdenebat, 26 years old, is bent over a stove, carefully stirring the micronutrient enriched thickened rice soup that he has cooked from scratch. After he finishes cooking, Erdenebat turns to the five other fathers in the room and tells them about the nutritional value of the dish. 

Khuvsgul school children look forward to clean water and proper sanitation

Khaliunaa and Bulganaa outside their home with their parents
© UNICEF Mongolia/2013/Andy Brown

Khaliunaa, 13, and her sister Bulganaa, 9, live in Tarialan soum, Khuvsgul province. Their father Buyanbadrakh, 44, and mother Narangerel, 38, are herders living a nomadic lifestyle. They move several times a year in search of better pasture land for their herds. Their only income comes from their livestock. Life can be hard. The family live in a remote area in the north of Mongolia where the winters are harsh.

The family are in their summer home, a small wooden cabin on the steppe. “We have 500 livestock, mainly sheep and goats plus a few horses and cows,” Buyanbadrakh says. “In summer we live 12 kilometres from the soum centre. In winter we are further out, 28 kilometres away. This winter the snow was heavier than usual but we coped. We didn’t lose any animals.”