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Mongolia - Focus on MONGOLIA
(March 2010)

Where is MONGOLIA?

MONGOLIA is a land-locked country in East and Central Asia. It is bordered by RUSSIA in the north, and by People's Republic of CHINA in the south, east and west.

What is life like?

Politics: Mongolia initially declared independence in 1911 but had to wait until 1945 to gain international recognition. As a consequence of strong Soviet and Chinese influence, the country became the People's Republic of Mongolia. In the early 1990s a democratic system was introduced and Mongolia now has a market economy.
Geography: There are mountains in the north and west of Mongolia and the Gobi desert lies to the south. Much of the area inbetween is covered by steppes. Most of the country is extremely hot in the summer and has temperatures as low as -30deg C in winter months. The capital is Ulan Bator, on average the coldest capital in the world.
Population: Mongolia is the most sparsely populated country in the world, with a population of some 2.9 million. About 30% of them, like Namuun pictured below, live a nomadic lifestyle. These people live in gers - tented structures on a supporting frame that can be moved from one place to another.
Economy: The main areas of employment are agriculture and subsistence herding and mining of metals and minerals. About 20% of the population live on less than US$ 1.25 per day.
Health: Swine flu was registered for the first time last October and so far two men have died of it. A further 73 have been hospitalized. Health care is expensive for the local community and beyond the reach of some without financial assistance, which ROPE is sometimes asked to provide.

ROPE's input

ROPE supports a partner agency that is permanently established in Mongolia helping the poorest of the poor. They operate a child sponsorship programme and two of Namuun's four children are beneficiaries. Last year the family moved their ger to a new area where they could have their own plot of land. Unfortunately, the land was lowlying and they were flooded out in heavy rains. Family members helped them to dismantle the ger and dry it out, and ROPE helped by providing them with food and some clothes.

Giving hope and a future

We have also recently helped a 28 year old widow, Oyun-Erdene. She and her two sons were living with relatives - 10 of them in a small building. Her sons had been included in the child sponsorship programme from pre-school age. They were often seen with injuries and appeared to be neglected. It transpired that the children and their mother were being regularly beaten by other members of the family and the best way to help them seemed to be to provide them with a home of their own. This was achieved most cheaply by buying the various component parts from different sources and then assembling them together. The mother was sick and unemployed so without ROPE assistance their situation could not have changed.