Access to drinking water for residents of the ger districts is limited to public kiosks (water distribution points), which are open only some hours per day and often run out of water. According to estimates, the water consumption of people living in ger districts is limited to 6-10 litres per day, per person. This is well below the minimum level of 15 litres per day, per person, prescribed by the World Health Organization.

Ninety-five percent of the people living in ger districts use simple pit latrines, which risks polluting underground water and soil. These unsanitary conditions combined with the lack of water represent a public health threat. 

Improving access to safe water, better sanitation and proper hygiene practices in Ulaanbaatar’s ger districts was the goal of SDC’s Ger WaSH (water, sanitation, hygiene) Project - a four year project implemented in the Songino Khairkhan district of Ulaanbaatar by Action Contre la Faim (ACF) in Mongolia.

Completed in 2015, the project had a number of impacts on proper sanitation and hygiene practices in the target areas, although challenges remain.

More than 20,000 children from 14 schools and kindergartens in the project’s target areas have now access to improved and rehabilitated toilets and sanitation facilities in their schools and kindergartens.

This accelerated good hygiene practices among schoolchildren and led to a reduction in waterborne diseases among the school-age population, including hepatitis A and dysentery. The number of Hepatitis A cases in the target schools dropped to 3 in 2014 from 121 in 2012, according to the National Statistics Office. Advocating hand-washing practices among children was a key factor in achieving this result.

Advocacy kits on proper hygiene practices were widely distributed, and were considered to be the only comprehensive tool on hygiene promotion for children in Mongolia. The kits were approved by the Ministry of Education and Science as a tool to be used at the national level with regards to the hygiene curriculum.

“Instilling proper hygiene practices among children was an investment in future healthy generations,” said ACF Advocacy Officer P. Ariunaa.

The project remodelled four water distribution kiosks, transforming them into multi-functional centres that included water distribution, public showers and hairdressing services, demonstrating that the kiosks were able to provide better hygiene services while earning additional revenue for further sustainability.

As a result of trainings and advocacy for local residents and staff at water distribution kiosks on water-quality testing and the improvement of water-distribution tools, there was a significant reduction in the bacteriological contamination of household water, confirmed in three consecutive samplings.

In addition, project collaboration with the private sector resulted in the production of 20,000 plastic water containers to transport water from kiosks. The containers were produced in Mongolia and distributed with subsidies in an attempt to provide an alternative to the commonly used chemical containers for drinking water transportation and storage. 

Two-hundred-and-fifty households in the target ger districts are also now using eco-toilets provided by the project as an alternative to pit latrines. These improved sanitation facilities – which do not endanger either human or environmental health - are affordable for local residents. At present, the eco-toilets remain the only consistently piloted option for improved environmental on-site sanitation in areas that are not connected to the waste-water system in Mongolia’s densely populated ger districts.

ACF Mongolia’s efforts to improve water and sanitation in Ulaanbaatar’s ger districts through demonstrations of solutions and viable alternatives, which has fed numerous studies and analytical reports, has resulted in policy actions, including imposing a condition on using improved latrines on new land allocations, and the introduction of cost-covering water rates in Ulaanbaatar.

Arkhangai aimag is a home to 150,000 yaks, which represents 20 percent of its total livestock population. Herders annually supply more than 20 tonnes of premium-quality yak wool to domestic processing companies.

This year, the Arkhangai Aimag Federation of Pasture-User Groups of Herders - with support from the Arkhangai aimag government, the Tariat soum government and SDC’s Green Gold Project - organised the “Mongol Yak” Festival.

Boost local economy and development 

The festival, attended by hundreds of local herders and 3000 visitors, was aimed at raising awareness among herder families about the importance of improving the quality of primary raw materials, wool, dairy products, hides/skins and meat, facilitating better collaboration between yak herders, cooperatives and domestic processing companies for sustainable value-chain development, and promoting local community-based tourism development.

“The yak festival is very important to develop Yak culture and tourism to bring as more people to the region” said Mr. G. Altan-Ochir, governor of Tariat soum of Arkhangai aimag.

Arkhangai herders are among those pioneers within the sector who have adopted new methods of combing through to the shearing of yak wool, which has significantly improved both the level of output and quality of the down delivered to processing companies.

Living in the Khangai mountain ranges of Mongolia, yaks are highly resilient and well adapted to the region’s harsh environmental conditions. Products made from yak down and hair are renowned for their ability to retain warmth. Yak down is as soft as goat cashmere, with the additional benefits of being both durable and comfortable to wear.

The unique colours of yak down - platinum, black and brown - make it an attractive material for modern clothing. Yaks also produce a number of other high-quality and valuable products. Yak milk cream is known for its taste and nutritional value, and yarn and households goods made of yak wool and hair are known for their high quality.  

Highlights of Yak Festival 

Competitions held at the “Mongol Yak” Festival among herders for educational purposes included “The Best Yak Bull”, “The Herder Family with the Best Yak Herd”, “The Herder Family that Prepared the Highest Amount of Combed Yak Down”, “The Herder Family that Prepared the Best-Quality Yak Dairy Products”, “The Best-Decorated Yak”, and “The Best Handcrafted Products Made of Yak Raw Materials”. Competition awards were sponsored by domestic processing companies: Bayalag Ulzii, Sor Cashmere, Uujin, Mongol Textile, Altai Cashmere, Jinst Murun and Tengri.

Processing companies also organised a “Fashion Show” of products made from yak down for herders featuring the latest fashions and designs.

During the festival, processing companies sold products worth MNT 7.2 million. Herder families who took part in the festival sold dairy products to visitors, earning MNT 10,1 million in income.

Two local tour operators working in the region also supported the festival, sponsoring cultural performances and arranging for tourists to visit the event.

The festival, which concluded with a midnight fireworks display, was indeed a celebration of local community, networking and collaboration to ensure a better future for the region.

SDC’s Green Gold Project aims to promote collective actions among herder households for the sustainable use of rangelands, economic development, and equitable and effective local governance. For more information, please visit  www.greengold.mn