Our Projects
Long-term, community-based development work in western Mongolia — from active recreation and civil society capacity-building to inclusive education for children with disabilities.
Grandhagen Activity Park (GAP)
Ongoing since 2021
Grandhagen Activity Park operates free, supervised recreational spaces for children, youth, and families in Khovd and Ulgii, the center of Bayan-Ulgii aimag, in western Mongolia. The parks offer seasonal ice-skating and ice hockey training, volleyball and football courts, playgrounds, and traditional ger structures used for indoor games. Sites are staffed by adult supervisors and monitored for safety.
The park began in Khovd in 2021 with an ice rink that drew roughly 500 visitors a day and around 35,000 visits over its first three-month season. Facilities have expanded steadily since: a volleyball/football court in 2022, a playground and pavilions in 2023, ice hockey training for both boys and girls, and a second park in Ulgii. In 2025, dedicated inclusive activity days were organized for children with disabilities and their families.
Strengthening Civil Society Cooperation (SCSC)
Ongoing, 2025–2026
Funded by NORAD; local partner: Association for Parents with Differently-abled Children (APDC)
SCSC builds the capacity of local civil society organizations in Khovd and Bayan-Ulgii to sustain and expand community development work, with a particular focus on services for children with disabilities. The project supports staff and partner training, participatory research, and advocacy skills, and helps document effective practices from earlier NLM-Mongolia projects so they continue after project funding ends.
In 2025, an independent evaluation confirmed lasting impact from earlier projects: standardized monitoring tools are now used in all 38 Soum and Family Health Centers across Khovd and Bayan-Ulgii; a dormitory self-assessment tool is applied in all 46 dormitories and has been adopted into national teacher training; and inclusive-education practices have been replicated at a school in Bayan-Ulgii. In 2025, 146 people — project staff, partner representatives, and civil society organizations — were trained across nine capacity-building sessions.
Inclusive Pre- and Primary Education (IPPE)
Planned — 2027 to 2031 (not yet started)
Funded by Digni; local partner: Association for Parents with Differently-abled Children (APDC)
IPPE is a planned project to strengthen inclusive early and primary education for children with disabilities in Khovd, Bayan-Ulgii, and Uvs aimags — remote western provinces with a combined population of over 180,000. Implementation is planned to begin in Bayan-Ulgii as a pilot in 2027, expanding to Khovd and Uvs from 2028.
The project aims to address low kindergarten and school enrollment among children with disabilities by training school “support teams,” teachers, and parents; building model kindergartens and schools; running public-awareness campaigns to reduce stigma; and working with local and national authorities to strengthen implementation of Mongolia’s existing inclusive-education laws and policies. Planned reach is up to roughly 890 people trained directly — support-team members, teachers, and parents — across 15 kindergartens and 9 schools in the three aimags, once target sites are confirmed. The project is designed to contribute to UN Sustainable Development Goals 4 (Quality Education), 10 (Reduced Inequalities), and 17 (Partnerships for the Goals).
