In this edition, we focus on climate change and environmental issues with our support for energy efficiency, air pollution, waste management, and the partly related issue of internal migration. A story from an entrepreneur in Govi-Altai Province will follow up on topics covered in our previous newsletter. We are also delighted to share two stories of our manifold support for culture in-country and impressions from our Head Office desk officer for Mongolia, who was finally able to visit our projects in Mongolia after two years of COVID-19-imposed online collaboration.
Over the years, climate change and the environment have become top priorities worldwide. For eight years, SDC has invested in energy efficiency with co-funding from the German government through the Public Investment in Energy Efficiency (PIE) project implemented by the German International Cooperation Agency (GIZ), the Mongolian government, and private banks. The project has capitalized its experiences and shared them at its closing event on 4th May 2022 video and magazine, especially the impressive results shown over eight years on coal consumption reduction, blueprints for refurbishing existing buildings for effective insulation, wonderful health impacts, and gains in education, all confirmed by an external evaluation done at the end of 2021-beginning of 2022. Find out more about the closing event in the newsletter.
While our support for air pollution reduction is coming to an end this year, an external evaluation of our Air Pollution Impact on Health (APP) project implemented by UNICEF was concluded in June 2022, revealing important results. The remainder of this project is now focused on critical scale-up through policy advocacy and capitalization, which will be shared during a closing event at the end of the year. In this newsletter, you will see how this project successfully introduced UNICEF’s innovative electric alternative to the traditional coal-based heating system of gers, the famous CHIPs: Cooking, Heating, Insulating Packages.
Waste management is a key part of the environmental chain. Having been significantly impacted by all COVID-19-related restrictions, the SDC-funded project Waste Collection and Transportation in Ulaanbaatar (WCTM) is ramping up for its last year of implementation after the integration of recommendations from its mid-term review in May 2022. You can read more about the new waste transportation and tariff system implemented in the pilot districts of Chingeltei and Songinokhairkhan in Ulaanbaatar. This system has led to significant savings for the city by removing corrupt practices.
While internal migration plays a significant role in the air pollution production of new settlements in Ulaanbaatar’s ger districts, the life story shared in this newsletter focuses on the psycho-social support given to internal (reverse) migrants by the SDC-supported project Understanding and Managing Internal Migration in Mongolia (UMIMM), implemented by the UN International Organization for Migration (IOM) in partnership with the Mongolian government. This project has also integrated recommendations from its mid-term review at the end of 2021 for its last year of operations.
Join us as we get to know Gantulga, a young entrepreneur and tea maker in Govi-Altai who received support from our Youth Employment Promotion Project (YEPP). After successfully developing his business idea, he decided to re-invest the benefits of his enterprise to support a new social enterprise addressing digital literacy.
As you can see, our progressive operational phase-out continues, with great attention paid to knowledge management and sharing to secure a maximum level of ownership and sustainability. Key issues are being shared with our headquarters, as mentioned by our desk officer for Mongolia, Ms. Susanne Amsler.
History is full of lessons. This newsletter concludes with the story of Mrs. Udval Sonom, sharing a deeper historical and cultural perspective supported by SDC. Udval was one of Mongolia’s first female leaders and founded the country’s first-ever women’s associations during socialist times.
These and other success stories supported by SDC Mongolia are the shining stars of this newsletter. Let yourself be surprised! And, as always, we would be happy to receive your feedback. All comments are most welcome and would help us deliver information to you in the most engaging manner.
Enjoy!
Benoît Meyer-Bisch,
Deputy Head of Cooperation
