Improving the living conditions of families with visually impaired members thanks to a microcredit fund and adapted training, in Ulaanbaatar
State : Completed | Number of beneficiaries : About 200 people
Project duration : 18 months
Place : Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
Local partner
MNFB (Mongolian National Federation of the Blind) is a Mongolian NGO which aims to defend the rights of blind people living in Mongolia and to encourage their participation in society on the same basis as any other citizen.
The federation was created in 1978 on the initiative of a group of blind people. It now has 23 branches across the country and the network helps provide blind people with education, employment opportunities, appropriate care and access to culture and sport. The association has 9,600 members with visual impairment.
Context
There are 11,700 visually impaired people in Mongolia and most of them cannot exercise their basic rights on an equal footing with others. They do not have the opportunity to participate in social life and to access education, work, training and rehabilitation services, etc. In other words, most blind people are isolated from society. For example, there are 1,200 visually impaired children and only 125 of them attend a special school and a nursery in Ulaanbaatar. The rest of them are outside the education system. Only 4.5% of working-age blind people are employed and visually impaired people live on a monthly disability pension income of just 170,000 MNT. As a result, most blind people live in poverty. Since 2003, the MNFB has received requests from homeless blind people asking for help in finding housing.
The mission
Overall objective: Contributing to improving living conditions in underprivileged neighborhoods of Ulan Bator, Mongolia
Specific objective:Improve the living conditions of families with visually impaired members through a microcredit fund and appropriate training
Activities
- Feed the existing revolving fund for housing micro-credit
- Direct support for improving living conditions
- Financial management training
- Appropriate training with regard to orientation and mobility
Beneficiaries
40 visually impaired people benefiting from loans over the duration of the project
160 people benefited from training in finance