Save the Children in Mongolia Hosts Quarterly Meeting of International NGOs
Save the Children in Mongolia organized the quarterly meeting of international NGOs in Mongolia at its premises on May 5th, 2026. The meeting convened leaders and representatives from international NGOs in Mongolia, including World Vision, JCS, People in Need, Wildlife Conservation Society Mongolia, Breathe Mongolia, and the International Crane Foundation. The meeting served as a platform for participants to exchange organizational updates, share ongoing initiatives, and discuss emerging opportunities for collaboration.
During the meeting, Mr. Yo. Nyamdavaa, Child Poverty Program Manager of Save the Children in Mongolia, presented the results of the “Entrepreneurship-Focused Socio-Emotional Skills for the Most Vulnerable Youth in Rural Mongolia” project. This initiative was implemented from 2019 to 2025 across 29 soums in Khovd, Zavkhan, Uvurkhangai, Govisumber, and Sukhbaatar Provinces, with a USD 2.75 million grant from the Japan Social Development Fund, a trust fund of the World Bank Group.
The project engaged 8,773 children and youth in Entrepreneurship-Based Socio-Emotional Skills (ESEL) training. Following the training, participants formed teams and implemented a total of 360 sub-grant initiatives, receiving more than MNT 1 billion in funding support. Furthermore, general secondary schools in the target soums introduced “School-Based Enterprise” initiatives with total investments exceeding MNT 600 million. One of the project’s most significant achievements was the development of an innovative and participatory project-based curriculum on personal development and entrepreneurship, which has subsequently been incorporated into the vocational education curriculum.
Mr. L. Bayar-Altai, Country Manager of Save the Children in Mongolia, also presented recent organizational updates, highlighting the organization’s ongoing efforts to expand programmatic impact and strengthen partnerships across sectors. In addition, participants exchanged perspectives on potential engagement in the 17th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (COP17), scheduled to take place in Ulaanbaatar from August 17th to 28th, 2026.
As part of these discussions, Save the Children in Mongolia introduced its “My Forest Child” project, implemented with funding support from Save the Children Korea. The project aims to promote tree planting, strengthen awareness of climate change, and support climate-adaptive livelihoods within local communities, while placing particular emphasis on engaging children and youth in environmental protection efforts. Mrs. Ts. Batzaya, Project Coordinator of the “My Forest Child” project, also presented the project’s planned participation and key activities for COP17.
Save the Children in Mongolia places strong emphasis on engagement at COP17 and is actively expanding collaboration with WWF, World Vision, other international and national NGOs, stakeholders, and government institutions. Current efforts focus on strengthening children’s and youth’s participation, engaging in the COP17 process, co-organizing side events, and amplifying children’s voices on climate change and land degradation.