FINAL REPORT

A study on Menstrual Hygiene Management in Mongolia:
Understanding practices and impacts on adolescent schoolgirls’ education and health
Mongolia has a harsh continental climate, and a prolonged winter with an average temperature of
minus 15–30°C.
The country has a decentralized system of government and is divided administratively into 21
aimags (provinces); each aimag is divided into soums (rural sub-provinces) and baghs (the smallest
administrative unit in rural areas). There are 330 soums and 1,592 baghs. The capital, Ulaanbaatar, is
divided into 9 districts (urban districts), and 152 khoroos (urban sub-districts) 2 .
The rate of urbanization is very rapid in Mongolia. According to 2014 estimates, urban residents make
up 66.4 per cent of the total population (with 45.5 per cent or 1.31 million in Ulaanbaatar) and 65.3
per cent of total households. Internal migration towards cities and urban settlements has increased
since 2000, mainly because herders who have lost their livestock in severe winters (‘dzud’) have
migrated to urban areas in search of alternative livelihoods.
Universally, population migration is considered to have a positive influence on economic development
and to reduce regional imbalances. However, urbanization in Mongolia is accompanied by many
negative impacts, such as over-population in Ulaanbaatar and urban areas, making it difficult to
provide services including a water supply 3 . Most of those who have migrated to urban areas live in
the underserviced ger areas that have limited access to the modern infrastructure enjoyed by their
city-centre counterparts, such as sanitation and piped water.
Figure 2. Unplanned ger districts on the outskirts of Ulaanbaatar
Source: Asia Foundation
2 NSO, Yearbook 2014.
3 Achieving the Millennium Development Goals: Fifth National Progress Report, 2013.
4