Project results meeting held in Gobi-Altai aimag

A meeting to discuss the 2023 results of the project “Establishing School-based Child Protection Mechanism in Mongolia” implemented by Save the Children in Gobi-Altai Aimag was held on January 11, 2024, at the conference room of the aimag governor’s office.

The meeting was attended by Sh. Erdenebat, Head of the Governor’s Office of Gobi-Altai aimag, E. Tsolmon, Child Protection and Child Rights Governance Programs Manager of Save the Children, S. Munkhjargal, Head of Social Policy Department, J. Amgalanbaatar, Head of Education and Science Department, experts, multidisciplinary team members from Bayankhairkhan bagh of Yesunbulag soum and Darvi soum, and the project working group of the school No. 4 in Yesunbulag soum.

Save the Children presented to partner organizations the project implementation report for 2023, shared the work report of target schools and multidisciplinary teams, and introduced the plan for 2024. In addition, safety bags were donated to the multidisciplinary teams from Bayankhairhan bagh of Yesunbulag soum and Darvi soum.

 

Sh. Erdenebat, Head of the Governor’s Office of Gobi-Altai aimag, delivered an opening speech: “The aimag leadership has supported and will continue to support Save the Children’s work in this specific field of child protection, which requires the human resources and expertise of a government organization, to strengthen the capacity of experts, parents, community and children of our aimag. I believe that our Gobi-Altai people will take greater responsibility, initiative and dedication, translate what they have learned into real work and demonstrate it to the project team, who have generously shared their knowledge and experience with us”

At the end of the meeting E. Tsolmon, Child Protection and Child Rights Governance Programs Manager, said: “We have discussed the results, achievements and challenges of the first year of the project in Gobi-Altai aimag with local leadership, state organizations, partner schools and the multidisciplinary teams, and presented our plan for 2024. It was unique that Gobi-Altai people took the initiative, enriched the knowledge gained during the project, turned it into experience and started to change their attitude with zeal and speed.

School No. 4 of Yesunbulag soum, schools of Darvi soum, and multidisciplinary teams are taking the lead to implement the recommendations of the project team, which is very important for disseminating the project results to other soums in their area.

Child protection can be realized if you can strengthen your knowledge of children’s rights and protection, develop the right attitude and turn it into a habit, which requires local initiatives and support.

Among the initiatives is the resolution of the Governor M. Mendbayar of Darvi soum of Gobi-Altai aimag dated May 18, 2023, with 5 main points. It is worth noting that this resolution presented a wide range of issues on a professional level, such as forbidding children to ride motorcycles or drive cars, implementing the “Hand in Hand” program between school and home, and analyzing the situation of children’s rights at school with the participation of children.”

 

Ch. Sendermaa, the director of the school No. 4 of Yesunbulag soum: “As part of the project implemented by Save the Children, we have been working towards becoming a child-friendly school for the first year. The meeting, organized to assess the work done in 2023, helped the project team to present project activities and share experiences with staff from other government organizations.

We also discussed plans for next year. We are pleased to have gained a set of essential knowledge on how teachers and parents can support students’ learning and development in 2023 in non-violent ways, how to be a good school and a good teacher, and what set of skills a good parent should have according to international requirements.”

Save the Children is implementing the project “Establishing School-based Child Protection Mechanism in Mongolia” in Ulaanbaatar city, and Gobi-Altai and Khovd aimags from January 2023 with the funding from Save the Children International. A total of 14 schools and 14 child protection multidisciplinary teams from Khan-Uul, Bayangol, Chingeltei, Sukhbaatar and Bayanzurkh districts of Ulaanbaatar city as well as Gobi-Altai and Khovd aimags are participating in this comprehensive child protection project.

The project trains teachers, school staff and parents to support children’s learning and development in non-violent ways, improves and strengthens collaboration between schools and multidisciplinary teams, and then creates practices in which parents and caregivers pay attention to child protection issues and actively participate in child protection.