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Messages of support
Otgonbayar CHULTEM
ASIA · Mongolia
Following in a mother’s footsteps
After achieving an undergraduate degree in Law from Irkutsk State University in Russia, and attaining a position in the Mongolian government as a member of the Great State Khural, it would at first glance appear as if Otgonbayar Chultem (54) had left her rural roots behind forever. Instead, Otgonbayar returned to rural life to follow in the footsteps of her mother – a former advocate and organizer for organizations that supported rural women.
In 1994, Chultem created the ‘Foundation for Empowerment of Rural Women’ to honor her mother’s lifetime work. Now, in her own right, Chultem has become an advocate and organizing force for rural women in Mongolia. The Foundation, which she has been leading for 15 years, works on educating Mongolian rural women in their legal rights, and in skills that will improve pre-existing livelihoods and create a means of living for those who have none. Chultem and her team have initiated more than 40 rural community projects, and assisted 26’000 women and their families. The Foundation is run on a completely volunteer basis, and currently has 20 branch offices in aimags (tribes) across Mongolia that reach 200 villages and rural women.
The Foundation has created a working group/forum through which this nomadic group of rural women has been able to network, sell products, and gain access to urban markets. Chultem has worked on providing milk processing- and machine-production training to more than 3000 rural women, local ‘green food’ growth training in Gobi desert conditions, and began a micro-credit project that enables 186 unemployed low-income women to begin small businesses (barber shop, café, bakery, and a hotel) by working collaboratively in groups.
Anita RAGHAV
