Blue Sky Bulletin Issue Number 6

8/3/2019 Blue Sky Bulletin Issue Number 6

1/8

UNDP protects fragile Eastern steppes Contents:U N Contest Winner

Fragile Eastern SteppesGreen Revolution

Gobi DesertSocial Policy Mission

Blue Sky Bulletin


2/8

News in a flashInternal Newsletter of UNDP's Partnership fo r Progress in Mongolia * Issue #6 * May/June 1998

Green revolutionThe UN system is w ork ing co l le c t ive lyto make 1998 a high profile year at thet i m e of the 50'h A n n i v e r s a r y of the U n i -versal Declaration on Human Rights. Whileth e p romot ion and protect ion of c i v i l andpolitical rights are doing well, there are ma-jor human rights breakdowns with theg row th in poverty , increas ing gender dis-pari t ies an d more s tree t children.A f r a m e w o r k is be ing fo rmula ted to: ( i)ground the conceptual grasp and the policycoverage of development as a human r ightand poverty as a human r ights abuse; an d(ii) outline how current UN-sponsored ac-tivities support national efforts in the pro-motion and protect ion of human r ights ina broad development perspect ive . The fi-nal document should serve as a basis for aMemorandum of Understanding betweent h e U N s y s t e m and the G o v e r n m e n t o fMong o l ia .

O n th e occasion of the ForeignInvers tors Forum in Agro-Industry an dTourism, which w as held between June 24 -26 in Ulaanbaa ta r , CNN has been broad-casting a 30 second long advertisementabou t Mong o l ia . T he adve r t i s ement abou tMongolia on CNN channel wil l be covered23 times till 5 June 1998.M inis try of External Rela t ions of Mongolia has sent a note to d i p l o m a t i cmiss ions and internat ional organizat ions inUlaanbaatar informing that HIV and SexualT r a n s m i t t e d Disease test r e s u l t s are notcompulsory for the foreigners, w ho appliedfo r short/long-term registration and exten-sion of visas.U NDP has signed with the G overnmentof Mongolia a U S $2.6 million projectto smooth the t r ans i t ion to a marketeconomy. Th e project will provide nationalan d in te rna t iona l t e chnica l assistance to10 newly privatised companies. Thesecompanies w i l l be selected based on de-tailed criteria related to economic , socialan d environmental concerns . The projectis in tended to create a more dynamic pr i-vate sector in Mongolia by r e fo rming th eoperations o f f i rms , in t roduc ing mode rnmanag em ent t e chniques , deve lop ing m od-els and methodologies for future enterprisereform and tra ining staff. Despite the rapidin t roduc t ion of market reforms, many pri-vate enterprises su f fe r f rom inex p e r iencew i t h th e market economy. The end resultis that these inefficiencies continue to con-t r i bu t e to low production and high unem-p loy ment : tw o consequences of t ransi t ionthat the project hopes to remedy. Fundsfo r th e "Enterprise Restructuring" projectar e being generously provided o n a cost-sharing basis w i t h th e G overnment of theN e t h e r l a n d s .A black market seems to be taking placewith old copies of the Mongolian Hu-man D eve lop m ent Rep or t . I n to i ts sec-ond prin t ing in both English and M ongo-l ian , 10,000 copies of the 1997 Mongo-lian Human Development Report were dis-tributed across the country last year. Thereport still remains a hot item and has beenspotted fo r sale (the Report is free) at theState Department Store for Tg 2,500 (USS3.50).

Th e Mongolian Government is distributingseeds, garden implements and advice atone-stop centres like this one in UB.

15,900 trees were plantedin Ulaanbaatar in one day

I t was an environmentally-friendly invasion:15.900 trees and 13,900 bu she s were planted inUlaanbaatar on Saturday 23 May 1998 in theframework of the Governm ent ' s "Green R evolu-t i o n " p r o g r a m m e . P a r l i a m e n t S p e a k e rR.Gonchigdorj and Prime Minister Ts.Elbegdorjplanted trees in the "Mother Complex" near theFirst Maternity H ome . As well officials from th eHealth and Social Welfare Ministry and the Gover-nor's Office of t f i e Capital city, and s tudentsof theNational Pedagogical University planted more than160 trees such as larches, spruces and birches there.Th e Governors office of the Chingeltei dis-trict of the Capital city plans to establish its ownpark an d planted more than 130 trees in an 800square meter field.It wa s planned to spend more than Tg 2.7million (U S S3,.300) to create green areas andrestore them in more than 40 fields of the capitalcity. Along with other donor agencies an d N G O s .U N D P is support ing th e Govern men t with seedsand gardening advice.

MicroStart projectAt the request of the Government of Mongo-l ia . Execu tin g Agency of the project , the UnitedNations Development Prog ramme ha s signed acontract with A C D I / V O C A . an A mer ic an N G O .Technical Service Provider in order to performconsu lt ing services under the MicroStar t Pi lo tproject in Mongolia. A Technical Service Pro-vider is required to supply a wide range of serv-ices, inc luding identifying potential grantees; pre-paring grant proposals for the local MicroStartapproval committee; staff training and workshops:advising'on how to establish a board of directorsas well as resource mobilizat ion strategies an dcoordinating impac t assessment studies.Microstart Pilot project 1997-2000 aims atbuilding national capacity in microfinance for thepurpose of promoting microenterprise develop-m e n t w i t h s t r o n g l i n k a g e t o s o c i a ldevelopment\poverty alleviation needs.Main outpu ts : a national microfinance insti-tu t ion (MFI) providing technical service to otherMFIs an d loans to the beneficiaries; at least fivelocal professional M FIs ; 7.500 loans disbursed:50 percent wo men beneficiaries by the end of theproject.

CalendarJune 30 - July 2" D e m o c r a c y an d Soc ia l D eve lop ment inMongolia" N a t i o n a l Conference "Pove r ty A l l e v i a t i o n I n i t i a t i v e s "Nor th Eas t A s ian Sub- reg iona lp ro j ec t fo rm ula t i on w ork shop i splanned to he held in UB in Ju l y /A u g u s t W i t h i n the p ro j ec t of C a p a c i t yb u i l d i n g f o r Pove r ty A l l e v i a t i o n .NSO will organise this summer aC o m p r e h e n s i v e S u r v e y o n H u m a nD e v e l o p m e n t ( L i v i n g S t a n d a r dS u r v e y ) , th e second of its kind inM o n g o l i a ( the first was in 1995t o g e t h e r w i t h W o r l d B a n k ) U N D P c o n t es t on c o m b a t i n gdese r t i f i c a t i on and the ef fects o fd ioug h t w i l l close Sept. 1, with th ea w a r d i n g c e r e m o n y on O c t . 17October 14-16I n t e r g o v e r n m e n t a l M e e t i n g o n T u m e n

R i v e r Project w il l be he ld in Ulaanbaa ta r

New social policy frameworkTh e United Nations system is working with

th e G o v e r n m e n t , A s i a n D e v e l o p m e n t b a n k(AsDB), World Bank/IMF, NGO s and others insupport of the development of new national so-cial pol icy framework that upholds sustaina blehuman development paradigm s and i s consistentwith th e nation's ongoing political an d economicreforms. The inputs from UND P on this reviewof social pol icy options wil l suppor t nat i onaland international consultants, various workshopsand tra ining. An importa nt and closely relatedexercise of the AsDB is to prepare tech nica l as-sistance fo r poverty reduction - and social safetynet strengthening will take place at the same timeas the UNDP exercise. The UNDP-supported re-view of social policy options wil l have two phasesand two related outputs: 1. Phase 1: Repo rt on a.)the existing situation and b.) social policy op-tions an d recommendations.At the in v i ta t ion of UNDP Mon gol i a , Dr .Ryokichi Hirono, a well-known economist andrespected in Mongolia for his long associationwith the Governm ent, the UN system, the privatesector an d NGO/heads th e team. Work began inFebruary of 1998 on the initial steps in assistingthe Government to define policy options for ane w national social policy framew ork.The inp ut

from Dr . Hirono as a result of his February workin Mongol i a , provides a logical framework fo rth e next step in the process an d consti tutes th efoundation fo r this exercise.Th e rev iew exercise wil l be conducted in twophases related to the social pol icy options andsecondly to the n ational social policy framework.A developm ent economist and one of the found-ers of the global human developm ent report, Dr.Hiron o led the mission and the team members,inc luding experts in social p ol icy analysis wi thspecializatio ns in the fields of social services, em-ployment and social protection. The miss ion wascoordinated under the Prime M inister's office an dworked closely with th e Ministries of Health an dSocial Welfare, Education an d Envi ronment . Itwil l rece ive per iodi c i nput from the Advi soryGroup of the Economic an d Social Growth ThinkTank and PAPO.The papers produced by the mission wil l besubmitted to UNDP Mongolia and the UN Execu-t ive Agency under SPPD in hard an d soft copiesas well as in English and Mongolian.Th e mission will be working in the periodfrom 4 May-September 1998.

Blue Sky Bulletin


3/8

Internal Newsletter of UNDP's Partnership for Progress in Mongolia * Issue #6 * May/June 1998

Urban poverty continues to rise News in a flash

Hunger and malnutrition are press-in g issues for Mongolia during the tran-sition. These children receive three mealsa week - for some the only food t h ey canget - at a soup k i t c h e n in the northeasto f the capital, Ulaanbaatar. Many of theresidents can't receive social servicesbecause t h e y do not have permission tolive in the capital. A cco rd in g to the gov-ernment's own figures, the number ofpoor in the capital grew by 30,000 in 1997,

despite Tg 150 m i l l i o n beingspent on p o v e r t y alleviation.By the end of 1997, 117,860persons of 26,186 Ulaanbaatarh o u s e h o l d s were l i v i n g inc o n d i t i o n s b e l o w l eve l of them i n i m u m subsistence l eve l(MSL), according to the Capi-tal Ci ty Statistics Service. Bythe l e v e l of indigence,N a l a i h k is l e a d i n g among theCapital city districts with 55.7percent of its residents livingunder MSL. The MSL is set atTg 10,400 per person permonth. Compared to 1996, thenumber of beggars was up by51.8 per cent, and the level ofindigence rose 6 per centreaching 18.5 per cent. Poverty has in-creased 150 per cent since 1994.The United Nations is currently work-ing on a Memorandum o f Understandingw i t h the Mongolian Government on FoodSecur i t y and N u t r i t i o n , two issues singledout in the 1997 Mongolian Human Devel-opment Report that threaten th e healtho f f u t u r e generations. T h e M O U wi l l h e lpto f o cu s e f f o r t s to address the nutritionan d food needs of Mongolians.

Hot talk on new hotlineThe red phone r ings every minute or soand is qu ick ly answered by a me dical s tudentsurrounded by safe sex posters. Tucked awayin a cramped office in downtow n U laanbaata ris a new phenomenon for Mongolia : the te l -

e ph o n e a d v i c e h o t l i n e . In o pe r a t i o n s i n c eM a r c h o f this year, th e A d o l e sc e n t Y o u t hHotline has received close to 400 phone callsf rom Mon gol i ans seek ing the l a t es t i n fo r -mation on sex and sexuali ty .The calls can range from skin problemsto depression to sexual ly t ransmit ted diseases(STDs) an d H I V / A I D S . In one call, a cleanerw as worr ied she cou ld cont r ac t H IV f romcleaning toilets. Four callers have wanted tocommi t su i c ide . The most common ca l l r e -lates to bir th control an d ho w to avoid preg-n a n c y .W h i l e the main targ et for the hotli ne isy o u t h - 70 per cent are se c o n d a r y s c h o o lstudents - the counselors have received callsfrom al l ages, inc lud ing senior citizens and aseven-yea r -o ld boy.D o w n th e h a l l is a new w a l k - i n c l i n i ca lso establ ished by the h o t l i n e ' s N G O , th eAdole scent Fu tu re s Cent r e . The c l in i c pro -v i d e s f r e e e xa m i n a t i o n s an d bi r th cont ro ll ike condoms.Th e hot l ine operates from 8 am to 8pmseven days a week. Most ca l ls are in the af-t e r n o o n .Th e t e l ephone counse l lo r s are medica lstudents from UB's main medical school . Forthem working for the hot l ine has been aneye-opener . They receive two weeks of train-in g before taking calls."I once got a cal l f rom a middle -agedman who wanted to know how to decide if hew a s h o m o s e x u a l . H o m o s e x u a l i t y a t f i r s tseemed strange but now that I have read aboutit , i t is not so s t r an ge , " sa ys 2 1 - y e a r - o l dmedical student M s. Tumerbat . She has foundmost ca l lers want a f o l l o w - u p e xa m i n a t io nin the c l in i c .

Medical student Ms. Titmerbat talksstraight on sex

The hot l ine was se t -up by an NGO , theAdolescents Future Centre, with seed moneyof US $4,500 f rom the Un i t ed Na t ions . I twas founded by a group of doctors, inc lud ingD r. L k ha s u r e n . di r ec to r o f t he UB medica lun ivers i ty , Dr . Al t anch imeg, ed i t o r - in- ch ie fof the M o n go l i a n A I D S B u l l e t i n and noww i t h UNFPA, and gyneco logi s t Dr . Ayush .Th e success of the hot l ine ha s attracted sup-po r t f r o m U l a a n b a a t a r' s m a yo r , who ha spromised to provide addi t ional fund ing .U N A 1 D S , the Uni ted Nat ions agency tocombat STDs /HIV/AIDS, has had an of f i cebased in Mongolia at the Med ical U niv ersitysince the end of last year.Hotline number is 312151

Canadian State Secretary of the Foreign AffairsMinistry, Raymond Chan, visited in late Ma yan energy-efficient health clinic being funded on acost-sharing basis by Canada and UNDP. Thebuilding is insulated using strawbales. an inno-vative building technique that gives th e buildinge x t r a o r d i n a r y i n s u l a t i o n . B u i l d i n g s u s i n gstrawbale technology have been shown to save upto 45 per cent of the budget of social services;precious funds that once went up the chimney inMongolia's harsh continental climate. Mr . Chan'svisit also included an hour-long meeting with theUN DP Resident Representative an d four Canadi-an s (including two United Nations Volunteers)working on U N D P projects. Canadahas had rela-tions with Mong olia since 1973. bu t only estab-lished an honourary consulate in February of thisyear. Mr . Chan expressed an interest in the foodsecurity situation in Mongolia and how Canadacould help.

Th is w o r k s h o p w as o r ga n i z e d by theU N D P P o v e r t y A l l e v i a t i o n t e am a n dconducted by Christine Musisi, U N V Gen-der in Deve lopment Spec ia l i s t on 15 May1998. The a im of the w o r k s h o p was toi n t roduce gende r concept to UN DP s taff ,d i s c u s s the impor t ance and sha re unde r -standing of gender analysis, which providesa framework by which to compare the rela-tive advantages and disadvantages faced bymen and w o m e n in var ious sphere of l i fe ,such as the family, th e workplace, the com-m u n i t y and po l i t i c a l sys t em and prepa redraft gender mainst reaming st ra tegy docu-ment of the country Off ice based on thesuggestions and proposals of group disc us-s ions o f pa r t i c ipan t s on t he inc lu s io n o fgender issues in a l l projects, program ac-t ivi t ies. Issues on w h a t is gende r , gende rrelations, triple role of women in the soci-ety and practical an d strategic gender needswere touched during th e w o r ksh o p .K of i A n n a n , th e Secretary General o fthe United Nat ions ha s sent a messageto Mr.Tsahiagi in Elbegdor j . , Pr ime Minis-ter of Mongol i a ext end ing his congra tu la -tions and best wishes on the assumption ofth e off ice of Pr ime Minister of Mongolia .T he U N Sec re t a ry Gene ra l no t ed in hismessage that Mongolia was an active par-t i c ipant th e U n i t e d N a t i o n s ' c o n f e re n c e sof such important issues as social develop-m e n t , e n v i r o n m e n t , c h i ld r e n , ge n d e r andpopulation. He stresses that the United Na-t ions f ami ly s t ands t o suppor t Mo ngo l i anGovernment in any way possible in meet-ing the c o m m i t m e n t s t h a t M o n go l i a hasmade at t hose confe rences , as wel l as inachieving other mutual goals.

M r. Amarjargal, Minister of Foreign Affairs who participated in the meetingof Ministers of the W orld Trade O rganisa-t ion held in Geneva, Sw itzer land met withM s . M . R o b i n s o n , t h e U N H u m a n R i g h t scommissioner and signed a draft documenton the establishment of Hu ma n Righ ts Cen-t re in M o n go l i a w i t h th e s u p p o r t of theUnited Nat ions.illWhere the Steppe Meets "the InternetSustdnddeDevelc rnent in IvfcngoliaUnited Nations Homepage: \E-mail: ^somlUg'undp.ore. 1 1 3 1

Blue Sky Bulletin


4/8

Internal Newsletter of U NDP 's Partnership for Progress in Mongolia * Issue #6 * May/June 1998DALANZADGAD

Development Profile:U N D P in the Southern GobiDesert

Stories an d photos by David South; In late May UNDP visited its environment and povertyprojects in Omnogobi or South Gobi on the border with Chinaand in the heart of the Gobi Desert. The aimag (province) ishome to 45,000 people spread over a territory of 165,000 kites-..meters. If is a harsh environment where temperatures can plum-

luf:i:.:1 ot Umnogobi,

js are working. It is a gardencaoital - despite being in the desert the central boulevard isity fo r some many of whom buzz around th e town

Malehin televisiona bouquet of wh ite satellite dishes - it

to see a ger with a satellite dish inCommunities like Bulgan soum struggle to find economic

opportunities in the Gobi

Electricity in the air - 85 women discoverthe Women's Development Fund

The M ongolian Human DevelopmentReport singled out South Gobi for hav-ing the highest poverty incidence inMongolia (41.9 per cent). Wh ile this rank-ing is hotly debated by locals who say itis a statistical anomaly resulting fromtheir low population, there is no ques-tion life is hard in the Gobi.In a crowded room in the G overnor'sbuilding, 85 of the poorest women inDalanzadgad have gathered to hearabout an innovative UNDP-initiated fund.The meeting, organized by the N GO theLiberal Wom en's Brain Pool, is introduc-ing the Women's Development Fund.Many questions are asked as to whysome of the wom en were passed overwhen the local government started dis-tributing poverty alleviation funds.With the assistance of the BritishGovernment who donatedTg 12 million,these wom en are getting a chance. TheWomen's Development Fund w as

85 of Dalanzadgad's poorest women learn about PAPOfor the first timefounded in partnership w ith the PovertyAlleviation Programme Office to takeaccount of the unique role wom en havein the prosperity of families. Support iskey and the w omen will be assisted bycommunity activists as they develop their

project ideas and begin to implementthem. In early June they started to re-ceive funding for their projects.

Blue Sky Bulletin


5/8

Internal Newsletter of UNDP's Partnership for Progress in Mongol ia * Issue #6 * May/June 1998Gardens in the desertRow after row of broken vodka bot-

tles and pickling jars become miniaturegreenhouses, protecting fragile seed-lings from w ind and frost. A U NDP-sup-ported project has helped to turn a pieceof desert pasture land into an oasis richin fruit, vegetables, h erbs and trees. Theexper imenta l garden run by Mr.Baraduuz, author of books on garden-ing and a desert pioneer, isplayinga keyrole in promoting sustainable livelihoodsin the Gobi. His garden, one of severalpilot projects across the country, wasfunded with Tg 3.9 m illion by UNDP un-der M A P - 2 1 (Mongol ian ActionProgramm e for the 21st Century).

The garden serves several purposes,being used as a training school for localfarmers, a seed/seedling bank and arepository for local herbs and trees. Thetrees play a key role in halting d esertifi-cation - protecting soil from high winds -and act as a shelter from dust storms forlocal residents. Baraduuz says the over400 streams in the Gobi could supportmore gardening with the right planning."People in this province are not asaware of cultivation since it only startedin the 60s," he says. "I have prov en with

this garden you can grow in the Gobi.Th e number of people interested in thisis growing every year. More and morepeople are asking for seedlings."Driving north and west ofDalanzadgad towards Bulgan soumthere is a striking number of gardens in

operation. Near Bulgan 40 families areworking on a 4.5 hectare plot fo r the pastf ive years. According to farmer Mr.Enkhbat, they sell their vegetables inUlaanbaatar, growing nine varieties in-cluding turnips, potatoes and garlic. Th eplots are small but profitable he says andworth leaving h is governmen t job for. Heproudly remarks they have received noloans or funds from any organization.The field is surrounded by trees to pro-tect it from w ind. It is farms like this thatare benefiting from Baraduuz's gardenand his knowledge.

Blue Sky Bulletin

Over 40 families work this plot of land north of Dalanzadgad

A thriving plantationof seabuckthom berries proves th e Gobi ca n grow

These children help on the farm in South Gobi


6/8

Internal Newsletter of UNDP's Partnership fo r Progress in Mongolia * Issue #6 * May/June 1998

W hy is the ice melting?The air is moist and cool. Thismay be the Gobi Desert and the

hottest place in Mongolia, but it ishard to match this fact with what isbefore me: rich green grass andshrubbery fighting for spaceamongst the rocks. This is the ThreeBeauties mountain range - two mil-lion hectaresof protected area - andhome to many rare species in Mon-golia, including snow leopards, Ibexor wild goats, eagles and Gobi bear.Once frozen year-round, the riverat"Vulture's Mouth" in the Three Beau-ties park just outside Dalanzadgadhas melted earlier and earlier everyyear. A must-see destination fo r thethousands of tourists w ho visit th e

park, the hikers have played their partin slowly eroding the ice. There arealso other theories including globalwarming and those who use the iceto make vodka.

This phenomenonholds a specialplace in the hearts of the local peo-ple. UNDP is helping to preserve thefrozen river in the valley throughEPAP. The project is working on twofronts. In the winter they flood the riverto help build up the layers of ice toreturn the river to its original thick-ness. During the tourist season theyinform hikers about the necessity totread lightly when visiting this Mon-golian treasure.

The ice melts in the Three Beauties Park

Traffic signs bring safety to the streetsCars, mostly olive green Ru ssianjeeps, weave in and out of the five-storey apartment blocks of down-town Dalanzadgad. R unning through

the centre of the capital of O mnogobiis a gardened boulevard, where fami-lies hide from the hot sun undertrees. That one road, and the fewfeeding into it, are the only enforce dguides for drivers. It can be seenacross Mongolia - settlements criss-crossed by drivers looking for theshortest route to their destination. Itdoesn 't help that there are no naturalor manmade barriers to prevent driv-ers going their ow nway.In Dalanzadgad a UNDP projectto protect the environm ent from off-road driving has had an unex pectedoutc ome: it has galvanized the com-munity to make the streets safer byadding over 100 traffic signs. Thep r o j e c t "Soi l and Road" underU N D P' s E nv i r onm e nta l Pu b l icA w a r e n e s s P r o g r a m m e ( E P A P ) ,s tar ted modest ly . Accord ing toproject director and local Khura lhead Mr. By amb asuren, the num berof vehicles in the area shot up from800 three years ago to 1,500 today.Most of these vehicles drive off-road,kicking up du st and destroying florawhich contributes to desertification.

"The disease rate here is very highbecause of the dust and we havemany traffic acc idents involving chil-dren," say s Byam basuren.With a small grant of Tg 2.5 mil-lion from EPA P the project was ableto organize workshops fo r local driv-ers where they signed a con tract tonot drive off-roa d, facing stiff penal-ties from the traffic police if caught.

A media campaign was also organ-ized and posters and brochures dis-tributed. The local traffic police wereso impressed by the project they de-cided to chip in a further Tg 2 millionto construct tra ffic signs an d installconcrete traffic calming barriers.At first they ex plored the possi-bility of buying ready-made signs butfound the costs too prohibitive. "W ewanted to get signs that glowed atnight but they were too expensive.We decided to make our own ou t ofold oil drums."In a room thick with the smell offresh p aint sits the traffic signs. T heyal l use internationally recognizedsymbols an d only upon closer in-spection do they reveal a past lifesitting on top of an oil drum. Eachsign costs Tg 2,000 to make. In addi-tion to the signs traf f ic calmingconcr e te b a r r i e r s h a ve beeninstalled in 20 places throughoutDalanzadgad.Next year Byambasuren will tar-get the large ger districts that sur-round the centre of Dalanzadgad. H ehas a message for any driver whodoesn't obey. "We will be banging ontheir heads with lectures if theybreak the rules!," he says with alaugh.

Blue Sky Bulletin


7/8

Internal Newsletter of UNDP's Partnership for Progress in Mongolia * Issue #6 " May/June 1998Environmental awareness: WhatWOfkS

in HIV/AIDSeducation?he media get the message outBy A. Delgermaa

The EPAP team: (from left) Davaasuren, Sumiya an d Robert FergusonAll the continents are masked intoxic black smoke, th e rivers are pol-

luted and full of garbage - these areth e images that come to mind whenMongolian children think about the en-vironment. It was all part of a series ofpaintings by children at the Eco-Olym-piad sponsored by UND P's Environ-mental Public Awareness Pro -grammes with the Enlightenment (Edu-cation) Ministry.Funded by UNDP, Netherlands andAustralia, EPAP is calling back the Mon-gol tradition to protect nature which isunder threat in this economic transi-tion period. For some, env i ronmenttakes a back seat to the pursuit ofmoney.EPAP ha s shown what can be doneby mobilizing the media and the enthu-siasm of NGOs and its savvy use ofpublicity is a model for other UNDPpro jec ts . T he pos te rs cover i ng th eEPAP office wall remind us the earth isexhaustible and we are not the onlypeople living on it.T h e t w o y e a r p r o g r a m m e h a stouched many people by working at thegrassroots with NGOs since its incep-tion in 1996.About 60 small projects out of 90have successful ly f in ished, ed ucat ingthe public on how to relate with nature,

how to work w i th the environment an dhow to prote ct it. For instance HatgalWomen's Federation of Hovsgol aimagworked to increase public awarenessof Hovsgol lake which is the pride ofmost Mongols - even today. Th e projectworked with the local people who liveon the shores of the lake."Environment issues are get-ting more important at the local level,"says national programm e officer Ms. D.Davaasuren. "We receive many pro-posals from NGOs an d from M Ps. Vot-ers ask their representatives in govern-ment to take this issue seriously."The media wing have chosenthe most popular dailies - Ardyn Erkhand Onoodor - to encourage journal-is ts to wri te about envi ronmental is-sues. EPAP also works closely with theEnvironm ental Journalist Club - a gath-ering of senior Mongolian journalists -at the Pre ss Institute of Mongolia. A our-nalist from Onoordor (Today) newspa-per is current ly working on a how-toeducational booklet to distributed byradio and TV. TV and radio offer some-thing newspapers can't in Mongolia -a truly national audience. EPAP's fundswill run out in August bu t they hope pastsuccess will help extend the pro-g ramme.

By A. DelgermaaWhen the news first came out in theearly 1990s that a Mongolian was HIVpositive, fear and ignorance left manyfeeling he deserved death. But todaythere are two official cases of H IV andthe Mongolian health minister recentlyventured thenumber may be closer to400.It isstillearly days foranybody work-ing in the area of HIV/AIDSprevention.What messages work and what don't is

still up for debate. The government hastried scare tactics inpast campaigns butit has also been remarkably open andexperimental as well.The UN AIDS programme n Mongoliais funding 11 small projects by NGOs,carrying out prevention education amongtarget groups tobridge the gap in igno-rance.Ulaanbaatar City'sWom en's Coun-selconducts peer education campaignswith prostitutes in private hotels. Theproject distributescondoms, advice onhow to convince their partners to usecondoms."It is not easy to persuade their sexpartners to use condoms. It takes a spe-cial approach." Ms.Kh.Enkhjargal,thenational coordinator of for the UNDP-funded UNAIDS programme, notes theimportance of special information to tar-get groups."GalGolomf.istargetting business-men whocome to thecapital's marketslooking for business and prostitutes.Once a month on average they are onbusiness in the city and use prostitutes.The project also educates on how toprevent STDs.All thesmall projects have sepcificgoals for their target groups."We are educating educators andopening up a once dosed topic betweenuse and the target groups," saysEnkhjargal.The other projects are carrying outprevention education among studentsand in domitories in UB, among streetand homeless children in Darkhan, amongmilitary officers and solders.As well behavior research of pros-titutes and h omosexuals, the medicaltreatment of STDs and advice will behandled by professional institutes withinthe projects' framework.With knowledge and action, AIDSshould not be a da nger the p roject of-fers.

Blue Sky Bulletin


8/8

Internal Newsletter of UNDP's P artnership fo r Progress in Mongolia * Issue #6 * May/June 1998Blue Sky on Blue Sky

Every Tuesday at 5:10pm UNDP'splucky newsletter joins forces withBlue Sky Radio (100.9 fm) in an hour ofEnglish language news and informa-tion for those who want to learn En-glish. It's in-depth interviews with thepeople behind the projects and at theheart of today's hottest issues!

Log on to Mongolia -Our homepagejust got better!

The UN homepage for Mongolia nowhas a full-time editor, Ms. Bayasgalan.Since its humble launch in December oflast year the homepage has seen manychanges. The homepage offers informa-tion on all the UN agencies in Mongoliaand has a wide audience, from studentsto academics to business people to de-velopment workers to Mongolians livingabroad. We know they are thirsty for thelatest information on Mongolia and theydemand the best. Some of the changesinclude more up-to-date news, an onlinemagazine and a Mongolian languageverison of the site - more and more Mon-golians get wired every day. Keep check-ing us out and telling us what you think!

http://www.un-mongolia.mnArrivals/Departures

Ms. Ch. Nasantuya, NPO, tookannual leave followed by Spe-cial Leave without Payment fora Masters degree in the USA;Ms. B.Elbegzaya, Secretary toDKR, left U N D P Mongolia to takeher studies in USAto get Mas-ters degree; Ms. L.Ariunaa,LA N Administrator, separatedfrom U N D P Mongolia to join U N D PProject on information tech-nology} Mr. Tserendorj, pre-viously NPC of UNDP Project,will start his work as NPO inGovernance Programme of UNDP,starting from July 1; Ms.Bayasgalan joined U N Mongoliaas UNWebmaster;UNVs Mr. Mat-thew Heller, Mr . O l a fKanstein, Mr. SamarapalaVidanagamachchi, Mr. MahindaMoragolle have all completedtheir assignments with theDemocracy and DecentralizationProject; UNV Ms. ChristineMusisi has moved to Kyrgystanto become a consultant for thatcountry's poverty projects;UNVEnglish teacherMr.Stephanus Barnard, has re-turned to Bournemouth, Englandto teach foreign students.

PRESIDENTA W A R D SUNDP W O R K E R S

WITH FRIENDSHIPMEDAL

A proud Christine Musisi

Ugandan-born United Nations Vol-unteer and gender specialist ChristineMusisi received one of the highesthonours bestowed upon a foreignor bythe Mongolian Governm ent: the Friend-ship (Nairamdal) Medal. Presented byPresident Bagabandi in a simple cer-emony on May 22, the medal is a re-flection of the deep affection and ap-preciation felt by Mongolians for Ms.Musisi's work.Ms. Musisi has taken up a new as-signment in Bishkek, Kyrgystan to con-tinue her work with U NDP and will be aconsultant to their poverty alleviationprojects in that country. High lights ofher two-year assignment in Mongoliaincluded her stunning performance atlast October's charity concert at theCultural Palace in which Ms. Musisi,dressed in a gold del, charmed the au-dience with her own interpretation of tra-ditional Mongolian ballads. Fundsraised during the concert went to sup-port a school for the children of the blindin Ulaanbaatar. She also contributed tothe formulation of the W omen's Devel-opment Fund of the Pove rty AlleviationProgramme.UNDP consultant Paul Oqvist fromthe Go vernan ce and Economic Transi-t ion Team was a lso awarded theNairamdal medal.

UN Information Shop Opens its Doors!The UN Info Shop has something for everyoneS anextensive Development Resource Centre with the latest reports aridstudies;1| El background archives on Mongolia

E 3 development magazines and Mongolian newspapersE 3 Internet access {in late summer)E! a distribution point for all UNpublications in the Mongolian language3 lots of UN posters andpublications inmany languages3 a photo andvideo library ondevelopmentIf wedon't have it wewill try our best to find it!

W e accept letters! All letters sh ould be nomore than 200 words in length. News briefsshould be a m aximum of 100 words each. Fieldreports should not exceed 350 words. The BlueSk y Bullet in is a publication of the UnitedNations Development Programme in Mongolia.Th e newsletter is published every month (exceptthis issue of course!). Th e next deadline fo rsubmissions is July 18.

8

Subscriptions to the newsletter arefreelWe can send the newsletter toyou electronically, via e-mail, or bypost. Just send us your address andhow you would like to receivethenewsletter and we will rush it outstraight away.

All submissions mu st be sent toth e Communications Office,UNDP, 7 Erklmti St,Ulaanbaatar,PO Box 49/207.Telephone: (976-1) 321539.Fax: (976-1) 326221.E-mail: [email protected] check oat the UnitedNations Homepage at http://www.uit-mongolia.mn

Blue Sky Bulletin

Documents

Blue Sky Bulletin Issue Number 6