Tag: Mongolia

Mongolia’s Measures against COVID-19

 

Artist: Ts Orgil.

Mongolia’s Measures against COVID-19

Itgel Chuluunbaatar & Li Narangoa

With the outbreak of COVID-19, as a country Mongolia was expected to have a high number of cases given its proximity with China and a vulnerable health care system. Despite all the odds, the Mongolian government has managed the COVID-19 well with timely management and strict rules. Unlike other countries, Mongolia took immediate measures to prevent and combat the COVID-19 outbreak, well before the first case was confirmed. Mongolia became the second country in the world to close its border to travellers from China, starting on the 25th of January 2020.

The experience of combating the SARS epidemic in 2003 and 2009 was still fresh in the minds of Mongolians and this gave the government the confidence to act decisively. Previously, when SARS cases crossed the southern border from China, Mongolia immediately closed the borders and put in place social distancing measures. Some observers commented then that Mongolia was overreacting but it turned out Mongolia’s stringent measures paid off and within days Mongolia was able to contain the spread with only one internal transmission, while other Asian countries struggled for much longer to tame the spread of the SARS virus.

With the coronavirus, social distancing was introduced long before the first case was confirmed. All kindergartens, schools and universities were closed from the end of January and studies were changed to online modules. Special television programmes were released, dedicated for secondary school students and students were required to submit their homework through social networking platforms. So far 480 online courses and 206 textbooks have been uploaded to a dedicated website (www.econtent.edu.mn). Currently, school and university closures will continue until the 30th of April 2020 with the possibility of extension if the situation does not improve.

In February, the Mongolian president, Khaltmaa Battulga, issued a decree not to publically celebrate the biggest holiday in Mongolia, the Mongolian Lunar New Year, Tsagaan Sar. The president asked people to celebrate at home and meet friends online instead of visiting each other to avoid any possible transmission. The government closed down all roads between cities and provinces to limit movement during the festive season.

Despite discouraging his citizens from gathering, the President visited China on the 27th of February to show Mongolia’s solidarity with the Chinese government and its people in this difficult time. He was the first Head of State to visit China after the outbreak and donated 30,000 sheep. The Mongolian press observed the visit as a brave and smart diplomatic and humanitarian move. The delegation quarantined themselves for 14 days upon returning.

Thanks to the immediate measures taken, Mongolia has only 15 cases confirmed out of 4048 tests as of the 6th of April, including two successfully recovered patients. Currently 2272 people are under observation in quarantine. All 15 cases were from overseas.

The first case was confirmed on the 10th of March through a French citizen, who works in Mongolia, returning from a holiday in France. He stirred up controversy, as he did not follow the rule of self-quarantine for 14 days. He travelled in a train and visited a mine to conduct training. As a result, 120 contacts were quarantined as an immediate measure to prevent potential spread of the virus and over 500 indirect contacts were placed under medical observation. Fortunately, all of them tested negative. Mongolian citizens were shocked by the Frenchman’s irresponsible behaviour and demanded the government take stricter measures on foreign citizens entering Mongolia. Mongolia subsequently closed flights between European nations after this first confirmed case. The company responsible for the Frenchman donated 1 billion MNT (AUD600,000) to support the government’s endeavours in the fight against the spread of the disease.

Eleven out of 14 other cases were from Mongolians returning from abroad, via the government’s chartered flights and as a result of testing positive upon arrival. Over 6000 Mongolians have submitted requests for chartered flights when the virus spread globally. Due to limited quarantine space, Mongolia is delaying future chartered flights.

The Mongolian Ministry of Health has made daily announcements at 11am on COVID-19 related issues but also send text messages to mobile users several times daily to remind the public of the importance of social distancing, washing their hands and wearing masks. This has resulted in almost everyone in the street wearing face masks, while strolling through Ulaanbaatar. The shops and stores are well stocked. People do not seem to be hoarding supplies nor have there been battles for toilet paper. The Mongolian Prime Minister assured citizen’s that there is enough meat and other supplies in the national reserve until the end of this year.

Mongolia’s effective control of the outbreak of the coronavirus is partly because it acted in a timely manner, but also because Mongolia is used to acting upon the spread of animal disease outbreaks, such as foot and mouth, whereby the most recent occurrence was a couple of years ago in western provinces. Restriction of movement of human and animals takes place as soon as these kinds of zoonotic outbreaks occur.

Since 2018, Mongolia has been using a Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) system to track the mobility of people in all administrative areas outside Ulaanbaatar to improve the preparedness for natural disasters. The DTM technology has also been used to manage COVID-19 by monitoring peoples’ movements to and from the capital of Ulaanbaatar. Over 400 health and educational personnel were placed at six major checkpoints across the city to collect data on aspects such as people’s length of stay in their point of origin and destination, as Ulaanbaatar is the political and economic hub of Mongolia and presents a potential major source of the virus to the rest of the country.

Like the rest of the world, Mongolia is expected to have serious economic decline in the coming year due to slowing global trade and limited domestic business. To minimise the economic and social impacts of the virus, the government has announced special measures, cancelling individual income taxes and social insurance payments from employees and employers for six months from the 1st of April 2020. All legal entities with less than MNT1.2 billion annual income are also given these tax exemptions. The government announced an additional MNT10,000 for each Mongolian child per month. Despite these measures, with large international bond payments due in the coming years, the Mongolian government will face huge challenges to handle the longer-term economic impacts of the virus.

Links:

https://en.unesco.org/news/mongolia-students-embarked-remote-learning-response-covid-19

https://www.amicusmongolia.com/coronavirus-mongolia-update.html

https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2020/04/02/the-world-bank-approves-269-million-for-mongolias-covid-19-coronavirus-emergency-response

https://migration.iom.int/reports/mongolia-–-flow-monitoring-ulaanbaatar-covid-19-preparedness-–-situation-report-33-1-april

https://migration.iom.int/reports/mongolia-–-flow-monitoring-ulaanbaatar-covid-19-preparedness-–-situation-report-33-1-april

https://www.voanews.com/archive/mongolia-adopts-tough-anti-sars-measures

Cultural Heritage on the Mongolian Plateau

The festive spirit of the season was interspersed with a touch of Mongolian festivity recently. A photography exhibition was curated by staff from ANU’s Mongolia Institute, in conjunction with a bi-annual Mongolia Update. The exhibition opening and the Mongolia Update was held on two consecutive days, with international delegates from Mongolia and Inner Mongolia attending the exhibition on the first evening, before presenting at the Mongolia Update the following day. The theme of both events was on the significance and importance of cultural heritage across the Mongolian Plateau.

Figure 1: Waiting for mounted archery to commence. Photo credit: Natasha Fijn.

Nomadic Culture and Heritage from the Mongolian Plateau: Mongolia Photography Exhibition

A photography exhibition entitled ‘Nomadic Culture and Heritage from the Mongolian Plateau’ was officially opened from 5–6:30pm on 26 November at the Centre on China in the World Exhibition space. The exhibition was open to the public for just over two weeks.

Four different series of images were showcased in the exhibition. In a photo essay along one wall, Natasha Fijn captured scenes during an international mounted horse archery event on the outskirts of the Mongolian capital, Ulaanbaatar. Li Narangoa, in a complementary series, contributed photographs from scenes at the summer Naadam in Kharhorin; the Mongolian Embassy contributed a series from a collection of photographers, featuring images from across the drier, more arid regions of the Mongolian countryside. The photographs are part of an initiative by the ‘Our Few Mongolians’ organisation. The fourth collection of images were collated by Dr Uchralt Odete, featuring photographs from the cultural heritage site of Xanadu, the former capital of Khubilai Khan’s empire in Inner Mongolia, with contributions from photographers from the region throughout the different seasons.

In conjunction with the Update and the exhibition, a traditional Mongolian home (ger) was set up on the ANU grounds under a grove of gum trees near the Coombs building in celebration of the circular yurt as an icon of Mongolian culture and heritage. The ger was a generous gift from the Mongolian Government to the Mongolia Institute at ANU.

Figure 2: Horse and rider performing in mounted archery event. Photo: Natasha Fijn.

Figure 3. Young archers and horses returning along runway. Photo: Natasha Fijn.

Mongolia Update

The bi-annual Mongolia Update is aimed at informing Australian Government, business and academic specialists, as well as the interested general public, of recent developments and trends in Mongolia’s politics, economics, society, culture and the environment. The 2019 Update was supported by the Embassy of Mongolia, with contributing scholars from The National University of Mongolia and The Inner Mongolia University.

Mongolia-Australia relations and cooperation have been successfully developing thanks to Australia’s growing interest in Mongolia and the reciprocal interest in Australia on the part of Mongolians. The update for 2019 included an analysis of cultural heritage, including the performing arts, literature, nomadic cultural heritage and Mongolian medicine. Unlike the previous four Mongolia Updates, this year included presentations from and on the broader Mongol cultural areas, including Mongolia, Inner Mongolia in China and Buryatia in Russia.

A Welcome to Country, followed by a didjeridoo performance, was followed by Mongolian traditional music played on a horse-head fiddle (morin khuur), a 21-stringed Mongol instrument (Master Yatug-a), accompanied by traditional Mongolian dance. In introducing the Update, Li Narangoa commented on the complementarity between Aboriginal and Mongol music and the joint underlying importance of a connection to the land. At intervals, the performers from the National Grand Drama Theatre of Mongolia played throughout the Update.

Former Minister of Culture, Sport and Tourism and popular author, Oyungerel Tsedevdamba, gave the keynote for the conference, giving an update on the current issues surrounding cultural heritage in Mongolia, nicely setting the scene for the proceeding speakers.

This year, there were two speakers from Inner Mongolia, Erhenbayer, Deputy Vice Chancellor from Inner Mongolia University, who spoke about the preservation of Mongolian literature, while Gereltu spoke about the importance of traditional Mongolian medicine in a framework dominated by modern biomedical practices.

Ariun-Erdene Bayarjargal from the ANU College of Business and Economy gave a presentation on the challenges of a rapidly changing economy to peoples’ lives in Mongolia. Lhagvademchig Jadamba from the National University of Mongolia presented on Buddhism in relation to current perceptions about Mongolian national identity, as well as the broader Buddhist geopolitics across the Asian region.

Gegentuul Baloud, based at Macquarie University, spoke about contemporary Mongolian wedding costumes with regard to performance within the current cultural economy in Inner Mongolia. Recent ANU doctoral graduate, Jonathan Ratcliffe spoke about the epic hero Gesar in relation to the preservation of cultural heritage in Buryatia, Russia. The former Australian Ambassador to Mongolia gave a presentation on the significance of cultural heritage in Mongolia from a diplomatic Australia-Mongolia perspective.

Narantuya Chuluunbat, Deputy Vice Chancellor at the National University of Mongolia, gave the final concluding address, summarising the important themes featured by the other presenters during the conference, while integrating this with her own observations about the current economic situation surrounding cultural heritage implications in Mongolia. The audience consisted of representatives from the Mongolian Embassy, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, diplomatic representatives with an interest in Mongolia, and interested ANU staff and students and academics who engage with Mongolian studies from other Australian universities.

Figure 4: Musicians performing at the Mongolia Update. Photo: Natasha Fijn.

ANU Students in Mongolia 2018. Post No. 4 ‘Echoes of Civilisations’

Echoes of Civilisations: Representing Mongolia’s Cultural History

By Ruben Seaton

Photo: Ruben Seaton. Temples at Erdene Zuu.

The open fields surrounding Kharkhorin (or Karakorum) have seen some remarkable moments in human civilization. Spending time at Erdene Zuu monastery and the site of the former capital of the Mongol Empire provided time to think about the country’s long and rich history. It also prompted questions about how we remember culture.

In the 13th century, Kharkhorin was the centre of the rapidly expanding Mongol Empire. It was a hub for trade, manufacturing, and the exchange of ideas across cultures. Visiting a site of such significance, I was expecting to be able to identify where the beautiful tree sculpture once stood and where mosques existed alongside a church. However, not for the first time on this study tour, my presumptions were misguided.

It was an odd scene: an elevated white concrete platform jutted out from the green landscape, disingenuously representing where the Great Hall once stood in the southwest corner. There was no recovered stonework to be seen; apart from the information boards near a turtle statue, situated beyond the temple on the grassland steppe, there was little to suggest we were standing in what was once the capital of a great empire.

In a strange way, it reminded me of the Shelley poem Ozymandias: a statement of grandeur which had been reduced to less than rubble thanks to human hands and mother nature. Bricks and materials from the city were repurposed to be used for building a monastery. The gradual deterioration of Kharkhorin, through centuries of dry summers and cold winters, was there to be seen.

Buddhist spiritual memory had also been disrupted, but in a profoundly different way. Erdene Zuu monastery and museum was a beautiful but troubling presentation of a rich spiritual history of over 400 years.

Within our intensive course we had been told about the execution of lamas and destruction of holy sites. Back at the library in the ANU, I flicked through a book called ‘Soviet Terrorism in Mongolia’ and thought that the word choice may have been a bit of an exaggeration. However, for me it was then that I really thought about the significance of the actions of the Soviets. High-level monks were killed; mid-level monks were put in jail and low-level monks were sent for ‘re-education.’ From 1937-1944, Erdene Zuu was essentially a ghost town, with monks and visitors too intimidated to return. Looking at the eerie open spaces within Erdene Zuu’s walls, due to the destruction of buildings and monuments, the reality seemed both stark and cruel.

Photo: Ruben Seaton. Dragon decoration.

A thought about sacred and culturally significant sites in Mongolia in general. Coming from Australia – even from the few days I spent in Beijing before arriving – we are used to seeing national monuments and sites maintained in a particular manner: perfectly manicured gardens, shiny displays, new paint jobs. While visiting sites such as Gandan Temple, the Bogd Khan Palace and Erdene Zuu, it was common to hear comments from our class group about the long grass, creaky verandahs and peeling woodwork. The logic behind these observations is understandable: If these sites are so important, why not take better care in presenting and maintaining them?

In thinking about this, I think it’s important to be mindful of imposing our own lived experiences and expectations on other cultures. Sure, the appearance of the sites could be due to lack of attention, or a lack of funds for repairing buildings. But it is more likely is that employees, volunteers and worshippers simply have a different conception of what is important in a sacred or significant site. The aesthetics of a building may be far less important than the spiritual value of what it houses or represents. Keeping short grass probably isn’t a priority for a pastoral nomadic people who rely on livestock to keep pastures low; old and faded paintwork may be a sign of authenticity, not disregard.

I arrived in Ulaanbaatar thinking that the best way to explore a new country was by jogging through its streets and parks, not dawdling through old buildings. However, visiting these sites and reflecting on their significance has been a poignant reminder of what was, of what has been lost and what is being remembered.

 

Photo: Ruben Seaton. Stupas at Kharkhorin.

Further Reading:

The History of the Mongols Podcast: ‘Karakorum’

https://podtail.com/no/podcast/the-history-of-the-mongols/karakorum/

 

New York Times: ‘Bringing a Monastery Back to Life’

https://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/20/arts/20iht-monk20.html

 

William of Rubruck’s Account of the Mongols: ‘XVII: Description of Karakorum’

https://depts.washington.edu/silkroad/texts/rubruck.html#karakorum

 

ANU Students in Mongolia: Post No. 1. ‘Mining & Dining’

As part of an ANU Mongolia Institute course, twelve students traveled to Mongolia to participate in the intensive study tour ‘Modern Mongolia: challenges to the environment, economy and empire’, coordinated by Prof. Li Narangoa and Dr Jack Fenner. MongolInk will feature a series of posts written by students during their field experience in Mongolia in July 2017. The first post is by Savanna Pilgrim.

Visiting Baga Nuur mine. Photo: Savanna Pilgrim

Mining & Dining: Thoughts about female employment in the Mongolian mining sector from the Baga Nuur cafeteria

I was lucky enough to be a part of a group of ANU students who visited Mongolia on a winter school field trip, exploring the country that is modern Mongolia. On July 5, as a group, we made our first trek out of the big city of Ulaanbaatar towards the yet-to-be explored Mongolian countryside. After an hour of driving our view of green mountains and valleys was interrupted by what some in the group dubbed ‘Mongolia’s Uluru’, or what is otherwise known as the Baga Nuur mine. We were visiting the mine site, one of the country’s largest, to learn more about mining within Mongolia and the ways in which it has been relevant to the economic development of Mongolia in the past, in addition to how it will be important in the future.

 

As a part of the trip, we had each chosen a research area to explore, of which mine was female participation and equality in Mongolia’s post-socialist era. The relevance of this topic was clear to me when we were dining with the Mongolian miners in the mine’s cafeteria; whilst the room was bulging with male miners there appeared to be very few female miners. The reality of the gender divide of workers at the mine was made clear later in our tour when a guide informed us that, of the mine’s 1100 employees, only 150 of them were women. That is a participation rate of one female to seven males.

 

Female employment and participation in the Mongolian mining sector is interesting to considering for a number of reasons. Both historically and contemporarily Mongolia is a country that is typically discussed as having high gender equality. In many respects this is true, particularly in equal employment and education access terms. Women make up over 60% of university students, and go on to dominate fields, such as medicine and legal practices (Rossabi 2005). Mining, however, is very different. In 1999, the Mongolian Labour Law was enacted and Article 101.1, which prohibited female employment in a number of ‘dangerous’ sectors, including mining. This law was in spite of Mongolia’s 1999 signing of and commitment to the United Nations’ Convention Against Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) in which economic rights are specifically codified (Ellis & Ellison 2015). This deprivation of employment rights within the mining sector is significant given that Mongolia’s mining sector is the nation’s fastest growing and highest paying industry. The mining sector currently makes up over 80% of the nation’s exports and 30% of government revenue, whilst miners make 2.5 times the national average monthly wage (Mongolian Economy Journal 2014). The ban on female participation in the field specifically excludes women from access to this area of flourishing growth and employment, based on a view of needing to keep women ‘safe’ (Khan 2013).

 

The Labour Laws in regards to female employment were reversed in 2008 by Mongolia’s federal parliament (Khan 2013, 8). This theoretically granted women greater access to the mining industry and the large-scale economic benefits the sector provides. Yet, despite the opening of economic opportunities, the female employment rate in the Mongolian mining sector is only currently between 5-10%. This is despite the fact that university graduates in geology (the main group employed in the mining sector) are overwhelmingly women (Ellis & Ellison 2015). Why is there such low female representation in the sector? International Labour Organisation (ILO) research suggests that women are not encouraged to work in mining, despite the economic benefits it could have, due to ongoing social pressure for women to be protected from ‘unsuitable’ and ‘unsafe’ jobs. Furthermore, ILO studies show that mining companies in Mongolia claim they prefer male candidates for jobs and prefer women to fill service, support and administrative positions (Khan 2016).

 

Given Mongolia’s reputation, as being a largely gender equal country, it would be encouraging to see action taken to rectify this ongoing issue of lack of female employment within the mining sector. Khan (2013) suggests the industry should: 1. Enforce the Law on Gender Equality (2011), 2. Promote a healthy and safe workplace environment for all individuals, 3. Enforce sexual harassment laws and create awareness of respect for gender equality, and 4. Create a mandate for companies to report employment practices and policies. Through such changes it could be possible for increased gender equality to occur within Mongolia’s mining sector.

 

With Mongolia’s mining sector predicted to only continue to grow in the decades to come, it would be disappointing and limiting to continue to see a lack of female employment in a sector where women have the rights and skill capacity to work. It will be interesting to see what changes occur in the future.

 

SOURCES:

Ellis, E. & Ellison, M., 2015. “Women in mining: will Mongolia’s proposed new Labour Law encourage greater participation by women?” https://www.expertguides.com/articles/women-in-mining-will-mongoliasproposed-new-labour-law-encourage-greater-participation-by-women/arlillic (accessed 7 July 2017).

Khan, T., 2013. Mongolia: Raising Female Participation in the Large Scale Mining Sector (No. 16499). The World Bank.

Mongolian Economy Journal. 2014. “Average Wage stands at MNT 760 000” http://mongolianeconomy.mn/en/i/6014 (accessed 7 July 2017).

Rossabi, M., 2005. “Women in Modern Mongolia” http://asiasociety.org/education/women-modern-mongolia (accessed on 15 June 2017).

Susanna Pilgrim is a fourth year Bachelor of International Relations/Arts student. She also works at the ANU as the Coordinator of the ANU Learning Communities, a student-led group, which seeks to engage both the ANU and broader Canberra communities in ongoing community-focused learning and development opportunities. 

 

 

Changes in the Mongolian Countryside

 

This year I spent some valuable time filming in the countryside during the Mongolian spring, from March until May. Changes in the Mongolian countryside are not as immediately evident as the rapid development of infrastructure and the polluted and clogged roads of the capital, Ulaanbaatar. When we drove into the river valley I had come to know so well, there were still ger (yurts) dotted in the same sheltered locations, while herds still grazed near the icy riverbanks.

When I was conducting fieldwork in the Khangai Mountains of Mongolia during 2005 and again in the spring of 2007, it was complicated to get into and out of remote herding encampments. The occasional herder had access to Russian motorbikes but they relied primarily on horses to visit neighbouring encampments, to ride to local Naadam festivals during the summer, and to herd the sheep, goats, cattle (including yaks) and horses. I relied on one of the herders with a coveted Russian jeep to get in and out. Often as many as twelve people would pack into the jeep with me, alongside dairy products and animal hides. Upon my return, the driver of the jeep joked about how many people would come along with me for the ride. Now almost every encampment has some form of motorised transport, making them less reliant on their horses.

I felt a stab of nostalgia when I found that the hand-made wooden carts that were used for moving peoples’ belongings during seasonal migrations were now only used as drying racks for dairy products, or left discarded and broken. I was told that Ulaanaa was the last ox used by one of the families I lived with. Ulaanaa, a large red ox, was remarkably complacent (nomkhon) and I would often lead him, with the wooden cart and water barrel, to collect water from the river. Ancestors of the family would have worked with oxen, just like Ulaanaa, for such tasks for centuries, possibly even thousands of years.

With such marked changes within ten years, I realised it was important to record herders riding about on horseback. The communication of a person on horseback is remarkable, as the horse intuitively knows to respond to a herder’s body language but not to the lasso-pole (uurga) held in front of its head, or to vocalisations directed at the herd. For Mongolians that still predominantly herd on horseback, much of the day is spent with an individual horse, following the tracks, signs and occasional vocalisations of the roaming herds across the mountainous landscape.

Spring snowstorms can be lethal for newborn animals. It is important for herders to check the herds and to make sure none are snowbound, or too far away from shelter. The video segment above (see: https://vimeo.com/228131918) was filmed using a GoPro camera fixed onto a young herder’s hat. Monkho must have forgotten his uurga, so uses an improvised stick from a nearby tree to signal to the herd. The calls and whistles differ depending upon whether he is communicating with the yak or horse herd, whether he is vocalising to the herd as a whole, or an individual animal. He says ‘chu, chu’ softly to a young foal when trying to redirect it back to the rest of the herd.

Just as has occurred throughout much of the world, people turn to the ease of motorised transport in favour of working with horses. If Mongolian herders increasingly rely on motorbikes to herd in future, some of the unique modes of communication with their herd animals will inevitably change, and the depth of knowledge relating to such close daily contact with horses may be lost.

Dr Natasha Fijn

Fejos Fellow in Ethnographic Film, Wenner-Gren Foundation (2017)

Mongolia Institute, The Australian National University