Our History
Thirty-two years of community-based development work in Mongolia — from our first years in Ulaanbaatar and Darkhan to today’s programs for children with disabilities in the west, and the projects planned for the years ahead.
This page traces every major project Norwegian Lutheran Mission Mongolia has carried out since it was founded in 1994, in chronological order. For a general introduction to the organization, see About Us; for a closer look at what we are working on right now, see Our Projects.
Getting Started
1994
Norwegian Lutheran Mission Mongolia (NLM-M) was registered in Mongolia in 1994 as a non-profit, non-governmental development organization. Its first staff arrived that year, establishing an initial presence in Ulaanbaatar and Darkhan.
Selenge Development Project (SDP)
1995–2008 · Darkhan-Uul & Selenge
NLM-M’s first project in Mongolia focused on animal husbandry and family gardening in Darkhan-Uul and Selenge aimags, later adding wool processing as a third strand. By helping poor households and local organizations put their own resources to work, SDP contributed to a marked fall in unemployment and improved living conditions for thousands of people across the two aimags.
Bayanzurkh Development Project (BDP)
1996–2003 · Bayanzurkh District, Ulaanbaatar
Working in the 2nd and 6th khoroos of Ulaanbaatar’s Bayanzurkh district, BDP combined health and wool-processing work: supporting the local hospital with preventive health training, and running a wool-craft competence center that trained unemployed women and single-parent families to earn income at home. Its health component was transferred to the new Health Development Project in 2001, after which BDP continued solely as a wool project until 2003.
Health Development Project (HDP)
1998–2008 · Darkhan-Uul & Selenge
HDP worked across all soums of Darkhan-Uul and Selenge aimags to prevent common childhood diseases and deaths among children aged 0–8 by promoting healthy behaviors. Child mortality in the target areas fell steadily between 2001 and 2007, helping both aimags reach the UN Millennium Development Goal on under-five mortality years ahead of the 2015 deadline.
Child and Family Strengthening Project (CFS)
1999–2008 · Bagakhangai, Sukhbaatar & Nalaikh, Ulaanbaatar
CFS improved living conditions for vulnerable children in Ulaanbaatar’s Bagakhangai, Sukhbaatar and Nalaikh districts by delivering family- and community-based social services and advocating for children’s rights and protection. The project supported families with counselling, training and health information, and helped raise public understanding of children’s rights in Mongolia.
Wool Processing and Marketing Project (WPMP)
2003–2008 · Ulaanbaatar, Darkhan-Uul & Selenge
Growing out of the wool-processing work of BDP and SDP, WPMP helped vulnerable families earn a sustainable income from wool-craft production and sale, and organized producers into cooperative structures. The Tsagaan Alt wool shop, opened in Ulaanbaatar in 2001, and the Timeless felt-production company founded by a former NLM-M employee in Darkhan are both still operating today, together employing around 260 people.
Opening a Second Office: Khovd
2008
As its programs grew in western Mongolia, NLM-M opened a field office in Khovd in 2008, alongside its original base in Ulaanbaatar. The new office let staff work more closely with local partners and communities, and laid the groundwork for the headquarters move that would follow in 2016.
Strengthening Primary Health Care (SPH)
2008–2017 · Khovd, Gobi-Altai & Bayan-Ulgii
SPH strengthened primary health care across Khovd, Gobi-Altai and Bayan-Ulgii aimags in two phases: the first (2008–2012) built the capacity of primary health workers and raised health knowledge among the rural population, and the second (2013–2017), run with UNICEF and the Aimag Health Departments, improved access to quality care. Over the project period, maternal and under-five mortality fell significantly across the three aimags, and staffing levels moved closer to the national average.
Strengthening Children’s Rights (SCR)
2009–2018 · Ulaanbaatar, Khovd & Bayan-Ulgii
SCR advanced children’s rights in two phases: the first (2009–2013), based in Ulaanbaatar and Khovd, strengthened community development and child protection, and the second (2014–2018) narrowed its focus to keeping children safe and involved in decisions within Khovd and Bayan-Ulgii’s school dormitories. The project’s child-protection guidelines were adopted nationally by Mongolia’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Science and Sports, and awareness among dormitory children rose from as low as 0–26% to 74% by 2018.
Expanding to Bayan-Ulgii
2015
In 2015, NLM-M opened an office in Bayan-Ulgii, extending its presence to a second western aimag alongside Khovd. This expansion set the stage for the programs the organization would soon launch across both provinces, including its work with children with disabilities from 2018 onward.
Headquarters Moves West
2016
Having operated a field office in Khovd since 2008, NLM-M formally relocated its headquarters there in 2016 as the organization’s focus shifted decisively toward western Mongolia. Its Ulaanbaatar office — NLM-M’s headquarters from 1994 to 2016 — gave way to the new main office in Khovd, which remains NLM-M’s operational headquarters today.
Support for Children with Disabilities in Khovd & Bayan-Ulgii
2018 – 2024
From 2018 to 2024, NLM-M’s primary program supported children with disabilities and their families in Khovd and Bayan-Ulgii, in line with Mongolia’s Law on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the UN Sustainable Development Goals. By 2023, the program had directly reached approximately 8,500 people, including 1,750 children with disabilities — laying the foundation for the later projects described below.
Grandhagen Activity Park (GAP)
Ongoing since 2021
Grandhagen Activity Park operates free, supervised recreational spaces for children, youth, and families in Khovd and Ulgii, staffed by adult supervisors and drawing roughly 500 visitors a day. Beginning with an ice rink in Khovd in 2021 (around 35,000 visits over its first three-month season), the park has expanded steadily: a volleyball/football court in 2022, a playground and pavilions in 2023, ger structures for indoor games during the colder months, ice hockey training for both boys and girls, a second park in Ulgii, and, in 2025, dedicated inclusive activity days for children with disabilities and their families. See Our Projects for the full current status.
Strengthening Civil Society Cooperation (SCSC)
Ongoing, 2025–2026
Funded by NORAD and implemented with local partner Association for Parents with Differently-abled Children (APDC), SCSC strengthens the capacity of local civil society organizations in Khovd and Bayan-Ulgii to sustain and expand community development work, with a focus on services for children with disabilities, and extends this support into Uvs aimag for the first time. An independent 2025 evaluation found standardized monitoring tools in use across all 38 Soum and Family Health Centers in Khovd and Bayan-Ulgii, a dormitory self-assessment tool applied in all 46 dormitories and adopted into national teacher training, inclusive-education practices replicated at a school in Bayan-Ulgii, and 146 people trained across nine capacity-building sessions in 2025. See Our Projects for full details.
Looking Ahead: Inclusive Pre- and Primary Education (IPPE)
Planned — 2027 to 2031 (not yet started)
Funded by Digni and implemented with local partner Association for Parents with Differently-abled Children (APDC), IPPE is planned to strengthen inclusive early and primary education for children with disabilities across Khovd, Bayan-Ulgii, and Uvs aimags — a combined population of over 180,000 — beginning with a pilot in Bayan-Ulgii in 2027 and expanding to Khovd and Uvs from 2028. The project aims to reach around 890 people, including support-team members, teachers, and parents, across 15 kindergartens and 9 schools, contributing to UN Sustainable Development Goals 4 (Quality Education), 10 (Reduced Inequalities), and 17 (Partnerships for the Goals). See Our Projects for the full project description.
32 Years, One Mission
From wool workshops in Darkhan-Uul to activity parks and inclusive classrooms in Khovd and Bayan-Ulgii, NLM-M’s work has always centered on long-term partnership with Mongolian communities and authorities. Want to know more?
