Improving the living conditions of disadvantaged populations through community participation in the ger district Sukhbaatar, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

State of progress : Completed | Number of beneficiaries : More 150 people

Project duration : 18 months

Place : Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

 

 

Local partner

HLO is a Mongolian association that aims to improve the quality of living by accompanying them to psychological resilience process. Suvd, the founder of the NGO is a physician and professor at the university. Initially intended for its medical students, Suvd decided to create an NGO to make accessible its training to the most vulnerable populations so that they can develop their physical, psychological and establish a healthy environment conducive to personal development.

Thus, the NGO operates, since 2016, to different audiences such as blind children or the disabled.

Context

HLO wants to implement activities in Ger districts, overcrowded and without infrastructure. In November 2018, HLO identified many problems in the 16th khoroo of the Sukhbaatar district. First, access to water is difficult, with each water kiosk serving approximately 185 families. Some families say they collect 500 liters per week and therefore have to go to the kiosk twice a day, every day. This district also lacks civic infrastructure: about 1,000 children do not attend kindergarten due to a lack of supply, and there is only one family health center to serve a population of around 11,945 inhabitants. Most families lack toilets and indoor showers. Houses and yurts are poorly insulated and the inhabitants depend on coal. Over 85% of residents use wood or charcoal stoves for heating. They spend between 30% and 40% of their income on fuel, which places them in energy insecurity. It also produces some of the highest air pollution levels in the world, with Ger districts having winter PM2.5 concentrations more than 100 times higher than the World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations out of 24. hours (National Center for Public Health and UNICEF 2018).

Vulnerable people do not really access information from local government and often rely on their network (family members) to survive. The communities are strong in ger districts but not organized. HLO wants to mobilize and strengthen community to actively participate in improving their living conditions, particularly in terms of housing.

The mission / activities

Overall objective: Contribute to improving living conditions in underprivileged areas of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

Specific objective: Improve the living conditions of marginalized groups through community participation and capacity building in the Sukhbaatar district, Ulan Bator

  • Improved housing conditions of poor families through community participation: Development of earth building techniques, experimentation insulation with cellulose to 6 houses of vulnerable families, Improved accessibility for 6 vulnerable families  Distribution activities through the implementation of work by the community, Promoting employment of members of the local community through woodworking
  • Strengthening capacity of disadvantaged groups through the Community Learning Center (CLC): Establishment of the Center for Community Learning (Community Learning Center -CLC) Technical support to the local community, health education, Environment and personal development

Beneficiaries

The direct beneficiaries are:

  • 12 vulnerable families will benefit from insulation or access work
  • 3 craftsmen without jobs, who can develop a carpentry business
  • 30 people from vulnerable groups (caregivers, parents with disabled children, elderly …)
  • 90 people receive aid for the renovation of their habitat by groups with training followed.