Children voice up to tackle air pollution

“High-Level Forum on Clean Air” was organized by the Ministry of Environment and Tourism of Mongolia, the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, and the United Nations Environment Programme during March 2-3, 2023 in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. The forum was a joint effort with the North-East Asia Clean Air Partnership and Acid Deposition Monitoring Network in East Asia.

In anticipation of this activity, to ensure children's participation and include their voices, a combined classroom and online air quality awareness training were organised for over 500 children from 25 schools in urban and rural areas of Mongolia. At the training, the children performed photo monitoring of the air quality in their living environment and at school. Children also received training on outdoor air quality, temperature, humidity, and carbon gas measurements besides exercises to assess the safety of the school environment.

With their new knowledge and using World Vision’s social accountability approach named "Citizen’s Voice in Action", children's groups discussed the possible activities they can do to prevent further air pollution after evaluating the air standards.

Besides the training, an online survey was also facilitated with the participation of over 8,000 Mongolian children with the aim to measure children's satisfaction with air quality and its negative impacts on their daily lives. Based on the results of the survey and monitoring, children raised their voices to the decision-makers during the "Green Generation" children's forum held in Ulaanbaatar. As a result of the Forum, children appealed to decision-makers and encouraged their peers to contribute to air pollution reduction.