Tov, Mongolia– After graduating from university in Mongolia’s capital Ulaanbaatar, D. Bertsetseg returned to her hometown of Zuunmod soum, Tov aimag where she worked in education for 30 years. “I came back to my hometown to educate the future of Zuunmod–its school students,” Bertsetseg explains. Zuunmod soum is comprised of more than 4,600 households, with a population of 16,000 inhabitants.

Bertsetseg was drawn into politics during Mongolia’s democratic transition in the 1990s. After working as an election campaign manager and being twice nominated herself, she was eventually elected into the soum’s Citizen Representative Hural in 2012. 

Following her appointment, Bertsetseg took part in a National Training Programme, as part of the Capacity Strengthening of Local Self-Governing Bodies Project implemented by UNDP and funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, for all khural representatives. The tailored training includes topics such as citizen participation in decision-making, public financial management, ethics, green development, human rights, and gender. 

Bertsetseg also participated in the country’s first nationwide Women’s Leadership Training organized by the Project. “The Training affected us women in a very positive way since there are 14 women representatives in Zuunmod soum hural,” said Bertsetseg.

The Training will reach all women representatives in Mongolia and its curriculum includes leadership, power dynamics, and human rights.

“I hope the Trainings' impact will continue to empower women representatives.  Women are the backbone of the family and the bedrock of a community. With more women in power, I believe we would have more harmony, more engagement, less suffering, and less conflict.” 

For Bertsetseg, a khural representative means, “Being a responsible leader, ensuring a better future for the community, while also voicing people’s needs when shaping local policies.”

By: Philippe Long

Mrs Udval, head of the Association of Pasture-User Groups in Tsetseg soum, Khovd aimag, is using the film-making skills she gained in training provided by SDC’s Green Gold Project. She learned to document local people’s knowledge and experiences in a series of participatory videos that give a voice to remote herding communities.

On 15 October, Mrs Udval drove 50km to meet with a herding community that had gathered to celebrate the completion of a warm winter shelter for livestock - built by members of the Zaisan Pasture-Users Group.

“It’s great work for this community that they joined forces and resources to build a large shelter for the livestock of one member of their group,” said Udval. 

“This is something important to share with other communities to encourage them to act collectively in order to accomplish more.”

In preparation for filming, the herders developed a storyboard - a hand-drawn visual plan to guide the video - on how they built the shelter. Once completed, Mrs Udval began recording the process, complete with interviews with those who took part.

“I’m happy that I built the fence for newborn animals thanks to the support I received from my fellow herders,” said D. Batbileg, member of the Zaisan PUG and owner of the new shelter.

“There are many herders who need the support of others. We plan to build fences for at least three herders each year.”

Using video to encourage herder participation, learning and exchange is completely new for us. Mongolians say that it’s better to see something once than to hear it a thousand times. Therefore, videos are more effective in explaining the accomplishments of others than just my words alone.

After finishing her day’s work as APUG leader, Mrs Udval then drove about 90km to the next community. That evening, she edited the video, using local music as an accompaniment. The next morning, she met with the herder community, who were largely unfamiliar with the work of SDC’s Green Gold Project in supporting herders in pasture management and collective action.

She showed them the five minute long video she had produced, which captured the herders’ attention, particularly when they saw the benefits of communal work, and resulted in a round of questions on how they, too, could engage in such collaborative efforts.

Mrs Udval will continue to meet with herders in neighbouring communities where she plans to introduce joint pasture-management practices.

“I believe that meetings and activities with herders are more efficient with the use of the videos we produce together,” said Udval.