Local Solutions in Mongolia

Local Solutions is an NGO based in Mongolia and a close partner of Hesperian. All donations will go to helping Local Solutions with the following projects:

Combating Air Pollution

In the winter Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia is both the coldest capital in the world and the most polluted. Its 1.5 million residents burn raw, dirty coal to keep warm that creates catastrophic air pollution. The city reaches some of the highest air quality index readings in the world. Child death rates from respiratory illnesses increase every year, as well as hospitalizations of both adults and children.

Hesperian and Local Solutions are seeking donations to educate and mobilize the citizens of Ulaanbaatar. Local Solutions plans to hold free, full-day courses to educate thousands of people on how they can help improve air quality through green alternatives and projects, as well as informed action.

Sustainable Toilets

Two thirds of Ulaanbaatar’s 1.3 million residents live in ger (yurt) districts off the sewage-pipe grid. Local Solutions and Hesperian are securing funding to help them change their outhouse toilets into alternative that will cause less pollution.

Bacteria and contamination from current outhouse toilets spreads through groundwater to nearby wells, causing a majority of children’s diarrhea -- the number one killer of children under five in this democratic Asian country. Many small children fall and die in dangerous outhouses. Yet until recently, it was socially embarrassing to talk about toilets even among family members. But Mongolian attitudes are changing -- people are now enthusiastically discussing the need for improvement. Thanks to the movement Let’s Change Our Toilets led by Local Solutions, Mongolians are able to live safer and healthier.