With the financial and technical support of UNFPA Mongolia, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Social Policy organized the “Emergency Obstetric and Newborn Care” training for maternal and newborn health care professionals in Murun, Khuvsgul Province, on 1 and 2 March 2022.

During the opening of the training, UNFPA Mongolia Officer in Charge and Assistant Representative L.Oyunaa said, “UNFPA enjoys longstanding fruitful collaboration with Khuvsgul province health care sector since 2002”. She also observed that the capacity building by providing medical equipment and training of health care providers, carried out under the twelve-years long Telemedicine Support for Maternal, and Newborn Health Project, has made significant contributions to the strengthening of Khuvsgul Province’s maternal health services and safe motherhood.

Advisor to the Parliamentary Secretarial M.Otgon said, “The Vision 2050 policy document approved by the Parliament of Mongolia aims to improve the safety and quality of health services. Within the framework of the Sustainable Development Goals, we are working to reduce the factors contributing to child and maternal mortality through supporting reproductive health services.”

During the two-day training, the Head of Social Policy Department of the Khuvsgul Province Governor’s Office Ch.Ganbaatar highlighted that to improve health care, especially reproductive health services, the provincial government is focusing on digitalization and utilization of modern technological solutions. He has also stressed that they provided funding from the provincial budget for air transfer of mothers in critical condition, which saved their lives.

UNFPA Mongolia’s Coordinator for the COVID-19 Response project funded by the Government of Luxembourg B.Tsedmaa presented on the COVID-19 impact on maternal health and key findings from the “Why did mother die?” study and spoke in detail about the reform in the job description of midwives, new global trends in prevention of maternal complication due to COVID-19, and the current UNFPA initiatives in the area of sexual and reproductive health.

The training combined theoretical and practical sessions based on real cases. The training was facilitated by lead national specialists such as Associate Professor Dr. D.Munkhtsetseg and Dr. T.Amartuvshin from the Mongolian National University of Medical Sciences, Dr. B.Chinzorig from the National Center for Maternal and Child Health, and Dr. S.Enkhtuya from Amgalan Maternity Home.