International Contacts-Part 1

Unfortunately, I have not been able to establish international contacts however, in opting for the alternative blog assignment I was able to obtain valuable information on the effects of poverty to those residing in Mongolia which is featured on the website www.childhoodpoverty.org. In general, there is an estimated one in four children that live in poverty worldwide and the Childhood Poverty Research and Policy Centre attempts to prevent worldwide poverty especially in childhood as childhood is the most vulnerable and vital time in a person's life.

Due to a social change from being a socialist society heavily dependent upon the former USSR's Soviet aid, COMECON, to a multi-party democratic state with a liberalised economy (www.childhoodpoverty.org) However, many people are living below the income poverty line, which equates to approximately 36% of the Mongolian population and most most of the aforementioned percentage are children ranging from the age of 0-16 years old. Poor healthcare also attributes to the increasing poverty level as most households are headed by females whose children never enroll in school or drop out of school to enter the workforce. To reduce poverty, a Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper was developed to focus on the following factors: economic growth, rural development, human development (including social welfare) and good governance (www.childhoodpoverty.org). This paper will hopefully provide all Mongolian children with access to better education to assist in improving poverty.