Overview
Mongolia lies in central Asia between Siberia on the north and China on the south. Its landmass is slightly larger than the state of Alaska. Grasslands and semi desert cover up to 80 percent of the nation’s total area. Plains of eastern Mongolia are considered the largest intact grazing ecosystem in the world. The Gobi Desert, which lies to the south, has forests, oases, and mountains. The north consists of several rivers, including the Hovd, Onon, Selenga, and Tula. Natural resources include oil, coal, copper, molybdenum, tungsten, phosphates, tin, nickel, zinc, fluorspar, gold, silver, and iron.

In 1990 and 1991, Mongolia’s economy experienced a sharp blow when the Soviet Union collapsed and subsidies stopped–formerly the Soviet Union supported one third of Mongolia’s gross domestic product. Compounding Mongolia’s economic problems were the severe winters and summer droughts of 2000, 2001, and 2002; these extreme weather conditions contributed to massive livestock deaths and zero economic growth. As massive agricultural subsidies and industrial leadership were withdrawn, thousands of families became trapped in a cycle of unemployment, poverty, and poor health. Between 1991 and 1996, the cost of daily necessities such as food, clothing, housing, transport, and education rose by more than 5,000 percent. By 1998, 70,000 families were estimated to be living in poverty–the majority led by single mothers.

A third of Mongolians live in the capital city, Ulaanbaatar. Increasing urbanization means the number of semi-slum, low-cost housing areas is growing in the city. The water and sanitation systems in these areas are inadequate, and most of the families have no access to electricity because they cannot afford to pay their bills. Problems of poverty, unemployment, substance abuse, and domestic violence also have led to an increase in the number of children forced to live on the streets.

World Vision’s Work
The first time World Vision worked in Mongolia was in 1991, when the organization provided a large container full of medical supplies to help clinics and hospitals that were facing a serious shortage of drugs and medicines. World Vision began emergency relief work in Mongolia following severe snowstorms in 1993, helping provide basic necessitates such as meat, vegetables, baby food, rice, wheat flour, and medicines to more than 21,000 affected people.

World Vision continues to touch the lives of the people of Mongolia, bringing developmental assistance in the areas of food security, health care, and education. World Vision works cooperatively with local government agencies to provide essential services to children and families to help them embark on a brighter future. Income-generating activities for poor families teach cooking, sewing, shoe repair, postcard drawing, and felt making. Meanwhile, the World Vision Mongolia nutrition supplementation and education program is expected to routinely serve some 10,000 children and 3,500 pregnant or lactating women when it reaches its full capacity.