Engaging on air pollution and children in Mongolia

1. Engaging on Air Pollution
and Children in Mongolia

2. Why Children?
“Understanding and addressing the impact of air
pollution on children in Mongolia”
• Reduced fetal growth, preterm birth, pneumonia, and
reduced lung function leading to acute respiratory
disease
• Up to 50% lower lung function in UB children compared
to rural
• Incidence of lung cancer is 9 times higher in UB
population compared to rural
• Long-term exposure to air pollution connected to adult
life diseases (Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease, Ischemic
Heart Disease, Stroke and Lung Cancer) and most lost life
years.
• Poor fetal growth has been observed among pregnant
mothers living in the poor peri-urban areas (accounting
65% of low birth weight newborns).

3. UNICEF & the Private Sector in Mongolia
PAST / CURRENT PARTNERS
• Wagner Asia
• ING
• ARIG Bank
UNICEF would like to build on these partnerships with continued
engagement, and explore the potential for new partnerships so as
to:
• Harness the energy
• Have a coordinated approach and
• Address the most pressing issues, now.

4. Change we want to see in Ulaanbaatar?
• WHY: Air pollution is linked to diseases which kill and harm the health of
many children. Reducing it will translate to hundreds and thousands of
saved lives, and better healthier lives for all children. Actions that reduce
air pollution can also help improve economic growth, as well as reach
commitments to tackle climate change (COP21) and achieve the SDGs.
Reduced air pollution
• WHY: Children should be kept away from anything that harms them.
Reducing exposure can help keep them safe and healthy. Reducing their
exposure can include better design-construction in homes, child
sensitive urban planning, as well as filtration systems and good quality
masks. It can also mean adjusting the times of day that children exercise
outside.
Reduced children’s
exposure to air pollution
• WHY: The pre-existing health of a child can greatly affect the degree to
which air pollution affects their health. Providing all children with access
good quality medical care, including vaccines to treat pneumonia, good
nutrition, exclusive breastfeeding and safe water & sanitation, helps
build their resilience to many of the negative effects of air pollution.
Improved children’s health
so that they are more
resilient to air pollution
• WHY: Monitoring devices can help individuals, parents, families, and
communities adjust and minimize exposure to immediately prevailing
conditions. It can also help educate the public and policymakers on key
health risks, and has been credited as a catalyst in helping to create
wide-scale policy change in other countries.
Improved monitoring of air
pollution

5. What we can do together?
Provision of air
purifiers in
kindergartens & clinics
Provision of electric
heaters in
kindergartens & clinics
Improved construction
and insulation in
kindergartens & clinics
Provision of monitoring
devices in schools.
Improved awareness
about the effects of air
pollution in
communities

6. Modality of Operation
In order to maximize efficiency, no resources will go
through UNICEF. The donor should fund and manage the
project directly.
This also helps enhance accountability, and allows donors
to be more actively involved in the solution, creating
shared responsibility.
This is potentially a new modality of improving
development effectiveness

7. Interested to hear what you think!