 |
A
local mid-wife, trained through a UNFPA supported
programme, takes a break from the delivery room in the
local maternity clinic in Dundgobi, a city of 50,000 in
the Gobi Desert.
|
| |
|
 |
Mongolia
has only 2.4 million people in an area the size of
western Europe. Since half the population lives as their
ancestors did, as nomadic herders, the country’s
steppes and deserts support 30 million domestic animals,
mostly sheep, goats, horses and camels. The severe
winters of 1999/2000 and 2000/2001 killed nearly five million animals,
ruining family incomes for thousands of families.
|
| |
|
 |
A
group of local politicians pose for a photograph in the
Gobi Desert.
|
| |
|
 |
The
delivery room in the maternity clinic in Dundgobi
boasts the latest equipment.
|
| |
|
 |
Some
65% of Mongolia’s population is under 30 years of age.
Women still average close to three children each over
the course of their reproductive lives.
|
| |
|
 |
Women
with their newborns come in for routine check-ups at the
Marie Stopes Clinic in Ulaan Bator. With support from
UNFPA, the clinic provides
a wide array of reproductive
health services to some 27,000 clients a year.
|
| |
|
 |
A
nurse in the maternity clinic in Dundgobi tends an
infant. This facility delivers over 500 babies a year.
|
|
|
 |
Herding
sheep and goats in the Gobi Desert is hard and dangerous
work, especially in winter when temperatures can plunge
to –40 degrees C. Water is essential; here a herder
waters his flock of sheep and goats from a communal
well.
|
|
|
 |
A
pregnant woman gets a routine health check up at the
maternity clinic in Dundgobi.
|
|
|
 |
This
family living in the Gobi Desert lives off their herds
of sheep and camels. This traditional “ger” houses
two families, Mr. Badamkhand and his wife Mrs. Batgerel
(on left) and Mrs. Batergerel’s sister (right) and her
husband (not shown). Each couple has two children, all
girls. They would like to have a boy, but both women are
taking modern contraceptives – three month injectibles
– because the timing is not right.
|
|
|
 |
Adolescent
school girls read the popular teen magazine “Love”
which now circulates to every secondary school in the
the country. In all, 150,000 copies are distributed
every quarter. It is the most popular teen magazine
in Mongolia.
|
|
|
 |
Byamba
Syren, 13 years old, attends a secondary school in the
desert city of Umnu Gobi. Byamba has a boyfriend, but
claims that when she is ready for a sexual relationship
they will use a condom.
|
|
|
 |
A
mother (right) with her newborn twins at the maternity clinic in Dundgobi.
|
|
|
 |
A
small village buried deep in the Gobi Desert.
|
|
|
MONGOLIA
