MCA Partners with the U.S. Air Force, MAF and other international organizations to Address Mongolian Health

Moving Toward a Healthier Mongolia


The Health Project of the Millennium Challenge Account Mongolia (MCA-M), invited by the U.S. Air force, took part in an international health service outreach mission from July 18 to July 23, 2011. Participating organizations included the U.S. Air Force, the Millennium Challenge Account, the Mongolian Armed Forces, the Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) and the nongovernmental organization, Project Hope.

Four health services (dentistry, optometry, general medicine and gynecology) were offered in four locations in the Khentii aimag - Ondorkhaan, Tsenkhermandal, Delgerkhaan and Jargalkhaan- three of which are soums, allowing residents of the smaller and more remote areas to access health care.


Along with medical care, complimentary prescriptions, multivitamins, sunglasses, eyeglasses and toothbrushes were distributed as needed.


The MCA-M Health Project staff conducted trainings on NCDI risk factors, with hypertension and its causes dominating the question and discussion component. Participants asked many questions and were eager to learn. The trainings took place at all four locations, amounting to at least 1,000 people trained.



Health Service Delivery

Women, children and men showed up for medical attention. It is estimated that around 4,300 people were treated.




Due to the high demand for services, Kherlen, a 49 year-old women, arrived at the Ondorkhaan hospital at 4:00 am to ensure she received a check-up.


Kherlen saw a general practitioner, eye doctor and gynecologist. And on her third day, as a result of her positive experience earlier in the week, she brought her mother for a general check-up too. Kherlen was pleased with the quality of the service and declared that the doctors, “took sufficient time on her and their diagnosis.” Another participant, Shine Bayar (pictured below), a 12 year-old girl, stated, “I got sick often this year with headaches and dizziness,” and decided to attend this event after she “heard from her parents that doctors from the army were here.” Shine was informed that she was healthy, but going through puberty. To ensure her continued health, the doctors prescribed her multivitamins, toothpaste and other supplements.


In some cases participant were notified not only of their condition, but also of the need for regular medical help. Monponsukh, a man from Moron soum, was diagnosed with kidney stones, a previous condition that was left untreated. This time, he reported that he was given free medicine, instructed on its usage, and advised to continue monitoring his condition with a doctor. At his last doctor’s appointment a few years ago, he had not been alerted to the need for continued medical supervision or possible causes of his kidney stones.

Post-Naadam EEP Update

Hi Everybody,

Everyone here at MCC/MCA Mongolia is getting back to work after returning from their week-long Naadam celebrations and vacations. Naadam is Mongolia's biggest holiday, involving competitions in the fields of archery, horse-racing, and wrestling, and this year UB played host another successful and festive Naadam.

Prior to Naadam, I got the chance to travel to the 12th Khoroo of the Chingeltei district in UB in order to visit one of the Energy and Environment Project's product distribution centers and talk to some ger district residents who have benefited from the fuel-efficient products. The center has distributed ger insulators, fuel-efficient stoves, and fuel-efficient vestibules. In addition, the EEP project has worked with UNDP to help ger district residents fund and build energy-efficient homes. Each of the products and projects are aiming to combat the rising levels of air pollution in UB, while also making heating more affordable for ger district residents. We visited people who have benefited from each of the Energy and Environment project's products. Here are their stories:

We first visited Ms. Khandkhuu, who was forced to sell all of her families belongings when her son fell ill. After he recovered, they bought a ger insulator and a fuel-efficient vestibule from their khoroo’s product center. Their resulting savings in fuel, from from 4-5 tonnes to only 2 per year, gave them enough extra savings to buy a new television and new, better wood for their ger’s frame. B. Khandkhuu said that her family is planning to invest in a fuel-efficient stove after Naadam and before the weather turns cold and said she was worried about the rising levels of pollution in Ulaanbaatar. The savings they receive from the increased efficiency of these products provides further incentives She expressed her gratitude toward the Energy and Environment project’s work and stated that she hopes others in Ulaanbaatar will follow suit and buy more environmentally-friendly products.


We then visited a fuel-efficient home in the 12th Khoroo. Ms. Tsendsuren purchased a fuel-efficient home for her family as a part of a cooperative arrangement between UNDP and the Millennium Challenge Corporation. Before this home, she had always lived in gers. In total, she was given 9 million TMN in financial assistance from the cooperating partners, one of which is the Millennium Challenge Corporation, which enabled her to afford the newly built house. The new home has hot and cold running water, uses a fraction of the fuel she previously used in heating, and gives her enough space to work from home, where she has started a business making Mongolian traditional clothing.


Finally, we visited Mr. Magsarjav, a Mongolian film star who has been using one of the Energy and Environment project’s fuel-efficient stoves longer than anyone else in Mongolia. He claims he now can fill it with fuel, go to sleep, and his house stays warm until morning, allowing him to sleep through the night and, according to B. Magsarjav, making his neighbors very envious. He boasted that his neighbors did not believe how little fuel he had to use or how little smoke was emitted until he brought them to his house and let them see it for themselves.


The visits were a great way to see the EEP's progress and success in action. New product centers are being opened to widen the distribution of these products to more residents of Ulaanbaatar, and it is hoped that this winter will see 60,000 new fuel-efficient stoves being sold to Mongolian residents.

MCA Mongolia Funds New Masters of Public Health Program

On July 6, 2011 in Ulaanbaatar City, Mongolia, a host of people, including the Vice Minister of Health, the U.S. Ambassador to Mongolia, the Millennium Challenge Corporation Mongolian Resident Director, the Millennium Challenge Account Health Project Director and 36 masters of public health candidates, gathered for the opening ceremony of a newly established public health training program. The ceremony introduced the program, featured speeches from the aforementioned parties and had an enjoyable intermission that included flute playing and throat singing.




The MPH program, funded by a grant from the MCA M’s Health Project, is designed to move Mongolia from a treatment-oriented approach to medicine to a preventative-oriented approach to medicine. Due to the rise in non-communicable disease incidences, curative medicine is no longer economically viable. Implementation of the new masters of public health is being conducted in partnership with SPH HSUM and George Washington University. The funds are being put toward public health curriculum improvement, guided by George Washington University, and a one-year intensive public health training program for 36 existing physicians. The program is 50 percent classroom work and 50 percent fieldwork. The fieldwork is to be completed in candidates’ home regions, where they will collect data and analyze their local NCDI environment. Small grants will be given for operationalization of local public health improvement projects. Participants are required to publish one to two papers and return home, for a minimum of four years, to locally disseminate information acquired at SPH HSUM. To ensure maximum knowledge dispersal, participants were carefully selected to cover a variety of locations and medical disciplines; the selected candidates include doctors from each of the 21 aimags, the 9 districts, the Ulaanbaatar health department, the HSUM branch school, the School of Medicine and School of Nursing and one private medical school.



Thus, with the exchange of the signed agreements between D. Amarsaikhan, Vice President of Health Sciences University, Lauren Camp, George Washington University’s representative, and S. Bayarbaatar, Chief Executive Officer of the MCA-M, a significant step was made in building a healthcare system in Mongolia rooted in prevention and early diagnosis.

MCA Property Rights Project Begins Refurbishment

Refurbishments have begun for the twelve new land registry offices that the Property Rights Project plans to open in Ulaanbaatar and eight regional centers. These new buildings are part of the Property Rights Project’s goal of improving the process of securing land titles for Mongolians, particularly in ger areas. The company Nazu LLC began refurbishment on GASR buildings #1 and #3 in Ulaanbaatar, and Antech LLC was chosen to refurbish buildings in Chingeltei, Baganuur districts, Tuv and Khentii aimag. The remaining renovation projects were contracted out to regional companies in each aimag, and construction is scheduled to begin soon.

Here is a picture of one of the buildings:


And here is the construction beginning:


The Property Rights Project has been working closely with the ESA, the Environmental and Social Assessment Office, to ensure that the new buildings align with Hazardous Materials and Waste Management guidelines. Each contractor will follow strict guidelines to dispose of hazardous waste properly. Containers have been provided prior to the onset of renovations in each location for proper disposal of hazardous materials. It is hoped that by October 31, 2011, the new offices will be completed and ready to open to the public.

Here is a picture of the Hazmat container:

Staff Day!

Hi everybody,

Last Saturday, just steps from Chinggis Khaan's looming equestrian statue at Tsonjin Boldog, MCA held its "Summer Sunshine 2011" Staff Retreat at Khaan Jim's Tourist Camp. Around 70 MCA staff members from every office and PIU gathered for a day of fun, sunshine, bonding, khorkhog, and dancing. The retreat was a success on all fronts! Here are some pictures to prove it:

All the participants stopped to pose for a picture in front of the statue:



A fierce, inter-PIU game of soccer provided some afternoon entertainment



The Property Rights PIU won an award:



And we all got to listen to a wonderful horse fiddler:



If you want to see more pictures of the fun, take a look at our facebook album here.

Update on the Energy and Environment Project

Hi everybody,

Today I'm bringing you pictures and updates on the latest Energy and Environment Project (EEP) activity. The EEP joined Xac Bank on June 20th in Ulaanbaatar for the grand opening ceremony of their most recent fuel-efficient stove distribution center. The opening included singing performances, while also showcasing an array of stoves and disseminating information on the fuel savings qualities of the new stoves.



MCA will finance 76% of the cost for the stoves, leaving consumers to bear only 24% of the cost, which falls between 65,200 and 250,800 TMN, depending on the quality of the stove. MCA's Environmental and Energy Project is spearheading this initiative in hopes that it will reduce coal and ash emissions from ger districts in Ulaanbaatar, which compose around 90% of air pollution in the city. The new stoves will reduce emissions by 80% on average. The stoves provide significant gains for the consumer as well. They lower household fuel expenses by 20-30% on average, and burn for 12 hours as opposed to the average burn time of 3 hours for most Mongolian stoves.



It was a great event, and everyone seemed really excited about the new stoves. Let's hope EEP can reach their target of distributing 20,000 stoves by the fall!

HAZMAT WORKSHOP

Hi everybody,

There is a lot to update you on this week. Last thursday and Friday, MCA sponsored the Second Annual Conference on Hazardous Materials and Waste Management in Mongolia, "Advancing Management of Hazardous Materials and Waste from Cradle to Grave." Asbestos containing materials, lead-based paints, Polychlorinated Biphenyl (PCB), and mercury-containing light fixtures are still commonly used in construction in Mongolia, and the government does not have the capacity to regulate preexisting laws against their use in many cases. Proper disposal of medical waste poses another challenge in Mongolia, as does reduction of waste disseminated by households, including the ash that is spread into the air by gers being heated in the winter. In fact, according to one presentation by G. Chinzorig from GASI (General Agency for Specialized Inspection) at the conference, ash produced by heating gers provides 50% of hazardous waste in Ulaanbaatar. Furthermore, past studies have shown that only 30% of fees were collected for waste management in ger districts, thus posing a logistical problem for government in terms of having the funds to properly regulate these emissions.

This and other topics were addressed at the conference, which highlighted both the central problems facing hazardous materials and waste management in Mongolia, and the most realistic and effective ways to develop sustainable solutions. The discussions, which followed presentations by MCA consultants, government officials, and non MCA is also preparing guidelines and terms of reference for hazardous materials and waste management.



The Conference was a success, attended by around 60 representatives from government agencies and ministries, non-governmental organizations, international agencies, private entities, the media, and MCC-MCA officials.





There will be more to come in the next couple of days. The Health PIU set off on a two week trip to kick off their Anti-Tobacco and Alcohol Campaign on June 13 and will conclude the trip on June 25.

New Summer, New Blog Entry!

Hi Everybody,

Well, a new summer is here in Mongolia, and with that comes the requisite influx of interns at the Millennium Challenge Account Office in Ulaanbaatar. I am one of those interns, working for the Communications Office. During my time here, I plan to restart the MCA Mongolia blog, once again bringing you up-to-date information about what the MCA is doing, and in particular keeping you abreast of the six projects that MCA is working on. Just to remind you, the six projects are:

- Property Rights Project
- Peri-Urban Rangeland Project
- Vocational and Education Project
- Health Project
- Energy and Environment Project
- Road Project

You can read more about each of these projects and about the MCA Mongolia in general here.

Like my predecessor, in the coming months I hope to conduct field visits and report back with photos and commentary on the MCA's accomplishments and works in progress. However, for now, all I have to say is welcome back to the (newly reformatted) blog! I promise more useful and informative posts are in the works.

Back to business

After almost a week off for Naadam, everyone was back in the office today ready to get back to work. As our MCC Resident Country Director Robert Reid reminded us in the staff meeting this morning, there are 3 years and 2 months left to complete the Compact. Just a few updates on recent project activities: The Peri-Urban Project is almost finished with its field verification process, only two soums left. After the process is completed and the project receives a 'no objection' from MCC, the PIU will be able to begin project implementation. The Vocational Education and Training Project has finalized a list of vocational facilities that will be renovated. The Health Project signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Minister of Health and the Minister of Education and Science and will be developing a new curriculum for health education in the country. The Health PIU has also finalized a list of hospitals that will be receiving new mammography machines. The Energy and Environment Project signed an MOU with the UN Development Programme last week to subsidize energy efficient homes in UB and will be signing MOUs with the Minister of Minerals and Energy and Khan Bank in the near future to collaborate on providing subsidies for energy efficient products.

Happy Naadam!

MCA-Mongolia will be off for three days next week for the Naadam national holiday. If you're in Mongolia, hope your Naadam is filled with lots of khuushuur and good times!

Health Project grants award ceremony

Yesterday, the Health Project awarded approximately $860,000 in small grants to 93 award winners. The grants ceremony was held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and MC'ed by famous Mongolian radio host Ravdan. The Mongolian minister of health and the U.S. ambassador both presented the awards to some of the winners, along with representatives from MCA and MCC. Two award winners addressed the audience -- a representative from a hospital who praised the transparency of the grants process and the timeliness of the project in addressing serious health issues in Mongolia related to Non-Communicable Diseases and Injuries and a representative from the Mongolia Education Alliance, an NGO that will use its grant to implement an interactive seat belt awareness campaign that will involve the participation of school children. In total, the Health Project will be awarding $3 million in small grants.

MCA briefs U.S. ambassador on quarterly progress

Ulaanbaatar (www.mca.mn) – United States Ambassador to Mongolia Jonathan Addleton visited MCA headquarters this morning to receive his quarterly briefing on the activities of MCA’s Project Implementation Units (PIUs) from March 2010 to this month. MCC Director Resident Country Director Robert Reid, MCA CEO S.Bayarbaatar, PIU directors, and other key members of MCC/MCA leadership and staff attended the meeting. Ambassador Addleton opened the meeting by remarking on the importance of the quarterly briefings on keeping him informed about the progress of MCA projects and stressing the importance of taking full advantage of the summer months to implement project activities. The project directors then presented brief summaries of their projects’ major activities since March.

The Peri-Urban Project presented its progress on herder group selection for the leasing of peri-urban pasture lands and selection and assessment of hundreds of land plots to be leased to these herder groups. The project also mentioned its successful efforts in implementing public awareness campaigns including a partnership with Education TV to inform the public about the project’s efforts. The Property Rights Project presented its key activities in improving land registration and registering ger area residences in Ulaanbaatar and its wider aim of reforming Mongolia’s property registration process. The Vocational Education and Training Project’s main activities included the completion of a nationwide labor market study, the identification of 15 vocational schools that will receive equipment upgrades, and the establishment of three centers of excellence for the construction, mining, and health sectors. The Health Project summarized its key activities which included the planning and hosting of an international conference on Non-Communicable Diseases and Injuries that took place in April. The Road Project discussed its progress on selecting contractors and beginning the pre-construction activities on the 176.4 km road from Choir to Sanshand and road and bridge construction in Ulaanbaatar. The Energy and Environment Project discussed its work with engineers from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in testing energy-efficient stoves and insulation for gers and small houses for eventual distribution to residents. The Communication Team mentioned its efforts to publicize MCA activities through activities including a radio drama broadcast on national public radio, articles published in Mongolian newspapers, and the release of MCA’s 2009 annual report.

Ambassador Addleton also discussed with the project directors some of the challenges that have risen this quarter including the Peri-Urban Project’s additional fieldwork, currently underway, to ensure their project’s compliance with a World Bank resettlement policy. The ambassador expressed his optimism about the work of MCA in future project implementation and his willingness to help the organization achieve its goals in various capacities.


MCC Resident Country Director Robert Reid and Ambassador Addleton.


Ambassador Addleton speaking with MCA CEO S.Bayarbaatar.

Field visit with TVET Project in Dornod aimag

Tushig and I returned from a successful trip to Dornod aimag on Wednesday night. Dornod was a nice change of pace from the hectic-ness of UB. It had one of the flattest landscapes I've ever seen, and the sun rose at around 4 a.m. We went to observe and document a lottery process that MCA's Vocational Education and Training Project (TVET) was implementing at two of the vocational schools in Choibalsan for admitting students for the 2010-2011 school year. Basically, MCA's TVET project, which has a budget of over $40 million, is aimed at increasing employment and income among unemployed and marginally employed Mongolians by modernizing the country's Vocational Education and Training system. The lottery admissions process ensures that MCA is able to evaluate the true impact of the project on the vocational schools and students' lives. Having an admissions process that is based on randomized selection of students gets rid of selection bias (for example, selection of students based on GPA, test scores, etc.) and ensures that when MCA measures the impact of its project on individual students, it will be measuring impact based on the success of the project and not on the schools' selection criteria. The lottery process also allows for a fairer and more transparent admissions process because there is no evidence that someone with a high GPA in high school will be a better vocational student than someone with a lower GPA. Although the lottery process itself was a bit tedious, it really was proof of how serious MCA/MCC is about ensuring transparency in all of its projects. MCC has a very interesting approach to monitoring and evaluation and heavily emphasizes this component in its compacts.

We were able to visit the two schools and talk to students, instructors, and administrators. It was very apparent that these schools could do a lot with the grants and training that the MCA TVET project will provide. Both schools were in need of some serious repairs and new, modern equipment. But it was also very apparent that there are some very dedicated teachers and an abundance of talent and potential in the student bodies of the two schools.

Some pictures from our trip:


A student at the Vocational Training Institute of Dornod.


The delicious results of a cooking class' final exam at Dornod Phased Technical School.


Audience members anxiously awaiting the results of the lottery at Dornod Phased Technical School.


A student in the cooking program in the middle of her final.


A mother whose daughter won admission into the construction program of the Vocational Training Institute of Dornod.


Our colleagues Richard and Jackie from Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA) explaining the lottery process.

New week...

In a few hours, PR specialist Tushig and I are leaving for Dornod, an aimag in eastern Mongolia, with some colleagues from the Vocational Education and Training Project for a few days. The project will be holding their first lottery for spots in the vocational school in Dornod. We're going to document the process and talk to some of the students who are/will be benefiting from the vocational training offered at this school. This will be my first trip out of UB so I'm looking forward to seeing a different part of this huge country. Some other things going on this week:

-Property Rights will be holding a regional workshop for land officers.
-The Peri-urban PIU (Project Implementation Unit) has two teams currently in the field outside of Darkhan, and they have so far visited roughly 150 land plots to determine their suitability for leasing. The PIU will also be holding a procurement workshop on Tuesday.
-The Energy and Environment Project is continuing their stove testing with the engineers from the Lawrence Berkeley Natl. Lab.
-MCC will be briefing the U.S. ambassador next week on the progress of all the projects in the past few months.
-And you may have heard...there's also a little event called the World Cup that's going on right now.


Will be back with updates on our trip to Dornod!

On the road...

MCA's Communications Officer, Baika, just came back from a field trip to the Road Project and took some great pictures I thought I'd share. The road will connect the Russian border in the north at Altanbulag to the Chinese border in the south at Zamiin Uud. MCC is funding a 176 km section of the road from Choir to Sainshand. Construction of this section recently began.



The road before paving begins.



The Road Project deputy director and director observing the progress.



Local residents being informed of the project.

Happy Monday

Another weekend in UB flew by, and it was back to work early this morning. A few new faces at our weekly Monday meeting -- two consultants from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in Berkeley, California and Josh, a fellow intern who just arrived from Boston a few days ago. The two consultants are here working with MCA's Energy and Environment Project (EEP) on testing energy-efficient stoves -- part of EEP's efforts to increase the use of energy-efficient products in homes. Josh will be working on increasing the number of bids for project procurements and also lending a hand to the EEP team. We also have two more interns from the U.S. coming this week, so there will be plenty of Americans running around the office this summer.

Other events:

-The Property Rights project implementation unit (PIU) held a land administration workshop last week and had some appearances in local media including a local newspaper and an appearance on Education TV.
-The Vocational Education and Training PIU will be releasing the results of a big labor market study this week.
-The Health PIU will be holding a procurement workshop for bidders this week and are planning a grants awards ceremony for later this month.
-The North-South Road PIU just returned from an important field visit last week where they met with several governors and the project contractor.
-The Public Affairs team is planning an Open Door Day for July, inviting public relations specialists and journalists to come and learn more about MCA projects.

Some food for thought, an article about the widespread death of livestock (nearly a fifth of the country's) in Mongolia this winter, an issue that is costing many herders their livelihoods.

Summer in Mongolia

Hi friends,

My name is Emilie and this summer, I am interning at MCA-Mongolia in Ulaanbaatar with the Public Relations team. I will be documenting my experiences at MCA along with updating you on MCC/MCA projects and events on this new blog. As a graduate student studying International Development, this internship is an exciting opportunity for me to experience firsthand how development is being implemented in Mongolia through MCC and its collaboration with the Government of Mongolia. Through field visits, I will get the chance to observe the progress of MCA's major projects and their success stories such as the North-South Road Project and the Peri-Urban Project. The Public Relations department will also be active this summer and is planning various workshops and events in the next few months. I welcome you to follow my summer experiences as I attempt to make sense of this vast and dynamic country and the work of MCA in reducing poverty through economic development. If you have a blog about development, Mongolia, or any other relevant subject, please let me know and I will link to it.

More posts and pictures to come...