FXBVillage economic and community development programs in Mongolia

Program start 2006
Impacted population 3,000

In Mongolia, FXB is currently conducting an Economic and Community Development FXBVillage project in Sainshand and Ulaanbadrakh soums and in Zuunbayan bagh (administrative units).

Context

Mongolia is a landlocked country between Russia in the north and China in the south, with particularly difficult climate conditions. In the winter, the temperature can drop to minus 40°C in some areas, while in the summer, the heat can be unbearable, exceeding 40°C.

Almost half of the country’s population – 3 million people – live in the capital. Rural-urban migration is a major problem in Mongolia, generating entire neighborhoods made out of yurts on the outskirts of Oulan-Bator. Unfortunately, migrants have very few job opportunities and live in extremely precarious sanitary conditions.

According to the Mongolian National Statistics Office, in 2018, 29.6% of Mongolians were poor according to the national poverty line. An additional 15% of the total population is just above the national poverty line, at risk of falling into poverty in the event of unforeseen shocks, such as COVID-19, which has resulted in successive periods of containment since 2020. Seven out of ten poor people did not have access to any of the basic infrastructure services (improved drinking water, sanitation, or a sustainable heat source).

Our action

Coordination and implementation: FXB International
Financial partners: Badrakh Energy CSR, Eurofins Foundation and Magic Libraries Foundation.

BREAKING THE VICIOUS CYCLE OF POVERTY

Lack of economic opportunities, adverse weather conditions, disease, drop-out, poor housing… the poorest people in Dornogovi face a variety of complex challenges. 

THE STRENGTH OF OUR APPROACH : ADDRESSING THE MULTIPLE CAUSES OF EXTREME POVERTY

Addressing the issue of income is not enough! Tackling only one of poverty’s causes, through partial aid, is an insufficient solution to sustainably overcome it.

Our Economic and Community Development FXBVillage Model allows us to provide, in three years, a complete response to the fundamental causes of poverty by simultaneously acting on 4 predominant factors.

The fundamental pillar of our model is economic strengthening. Its main innovation is the donation of seed capital—in lieu of loans—thus allowing families to achieve economic autonomy. Families are also given training in business management and financial literacy, enabling them to start income-generating activities (microenterprises) and gradually earn enough money to meet their daily needs, facilitate their financial inclusion, and continue to prosper after the program ends. Along with economic strengthening, FXB ensures that every family member of the supported families can significantly improve their quality of life through 3 other axes

For FXB, combating poverty also means fighting against all forms of discrimination, particularly gender discrimination, in order to balance relations between men and women so that the latter, who are more exposed to poverty, can access the same economic and social opportunities.

Furthermore, an after-school education, life skills development and fixed and mobile library project was set up in 2023 to reduce the consequences of two years of school drop-out and isolation due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Program impact

The ongoing economic and community development program FXBVillage is enabling 500 adults and children to move from extreme poverty to economic and social self-sufficiency by 2021.

In order to create a lasting impact and bring about behavioural change, FXB organizes numerous sessions for communities. Family planning, the importance of education, hygiene, health, prevention of HIV/AIDS and other diseases, violence against women, children’s rights and environmental protection are among the topics that are addressed to enrich the skills and develop the resilience of nearly 3,000 community members in Dornogovi.

MEASURED RESULTS AND IMPACT

In December 2018, 526 children and adults from the Dornogovi aïmag achieved socio-economic autonomy after three years of participation in the FXBVillage program. In terms of results, our final evaluation shows that the average families’ income is 162% higher than the income received at the beginning of the project and that they are able, on average, to save 17% of their income. 100% of the families eat 3 meals a day (compared to 12% at the beginning of the project). 100% of the families have access to an improved sanitary facility. 80% of the young graduates at the end of a vocational training course have found a job. 

Testimonial

The substantial improvement of my family's quality of life and the success of my business have given me a lot of self-confidence.

Odval, FXBVillage beneficiary