The February 5 event ushered in a new public vision of vocational occupations in Mongolia, challenging the widespread perception that females were not fit in such heavy industries as mining and construction. 

According to Tuv Azza LLC Human Resource Manager G.Altantuya, as reported in the UB Post newspaper, heavy industries were interested in hiring females, particularly in the fields of engineering and security. “Women can be very successful once they chose these majors,” she said.

Advisor to the Minister of Labour, Ts. Nyamsuren, also quoted in the UB Post, said the ministry was making changes in relevant policies and laws to enable women to undertake positions in technical fields.

A total of 80 girls took part in the “Girls’ Day” event, where they received information about Mongolia’s vocational education, the specifics of different technical professions and current career opportunities.

They also took part in workshops, using tools and practising their skills under the guidance of teachers in the fields of carpentry, bricklaying, house-painting, electrical engineering and geodesy.

More than 15 Mongolian companies representing the mining, construction, food, hospitality, and trade and commerce sectors provided information on their particular areas of specialisation.  

Thanks to the success of the first “Girls’ Day” – organised in cooperation with the Institute of Engineering Technology, the GIZ Cooperative Vocational Training (CVT) Project will support more vocational schools in organising similar activities throughout 2015, with the aim of making “Girls’ Day” an annual event in Mongolia.

GIZ’s CVT Project is co-financed by German Government, SDC and the Australian government and is aimed at reforming Mongolia’s vocational education sector.

Mrs Udval, head of the Association of Pasture-User Groups in Tsetseg soum, Khovd aimag, is using the film-making skills she gained in training provided by SDC’s Green Gold Project. She learned to document local people’s knowledge and experiences in a series of participatory videos that give a voice to remote herding communities.

On 15 October, Mrs Udval drove 50km to meet with a herding community that had gathered to celebrate the completion of a warm winter shelter for livestock - built by members of the Zaisan Pasture-Users Group.

“It’s great work for this community that they joined forces and resources to build a large shelter for the livestock of one member of their group,” said Udval. 

“This is something important to share with other communities to encourage them to act collectively in order to accomplish more.”

In preparation for filming, the herders developed a storyboard - a hand-drawn visual plan to guide the video - on how they built the shelter. Once completed, Mrs Udval began recording the process, complete with interviews with those who took part.

“I’m happy that I built the fence for newborn animals thanks to the support I received from my fellow herders,” said D. Batbileg, member of the Zaisan PUG and owner of the new shelter.

“There are many herders who need the support of others. We plan to build fences for at least three herders each year.”

Using video to encourage herder participation, learning and exchange is completely new for us. Mongolians say that it’s better to see something once than to hear it a thousand times. Therefore, videos are more effective in explaining the accomplishments of others than just my words alone.

After finishing her day’s work as APUG leader, Mrs Udval then drove about 90km to the next community. That evening, she edited the video, using local music as an accompaniment. The next morning, she met with the herder community, who were largely unfamiliar with the work of SDC’s Green Gold Project in supporting herders in pasture management and collective action.

She showed them the five minute long video she had produced, which captured the herders’ attention, particularly when they saw the benefits of communal work, and resulted in a round of questions on how they, too, could engage in such collaborative efforts.

Mrs Udval will continue to meet with herders in neighbouring communities where she plans to introduce joint pasture-management practices.

“I believe that meetings and activities with herders are more efficient with the use of the videos we produce together,” said Udval.