Voices of a generation: Mongolia

In Mongolia, visual storytelling helps youth shed light on a fast-changing climate, landscape and health

12 December 2025 | Spotlight

It is 7.30pm, much later than the official ‘end’ of the agenda at the National Geographic Photo Camp in Ulaanbaatar. Twenty students are huddled around in small groups, carefully reviewing and curating a series of photos, reflecting quietly, and discussing what story they would like to share with their peers the next morning.

Mongolia is the second stop in a series of Photo Camps in collaboration between the National Geographic Society and the WHO Asia-Pacific Centre for Environment and Health, which highlights the nexus of climate change and health in Kiribati, Mongolia, then the Philippines; diverse in experience yet common in urgency for action. Over five days, from 10-14 November 2025, 20 participants learned to use a camera not only as a technical tool, but as a voice—one capable of telling the stories that unpack their generation’s experiences with a defining crisis of a collective moment: climate change.

Climate change is driving an increase in the frequency and intensity of natural disasters in Mongolia, including droughts, dzuds, floods, and extreme weather events, as well as a rise in number of extremely hot days. A recent example felt so deeply by the nation was the dzud of 2023-2024, where the snowfall was highest recorded in 49 years affecting about 90% of the country and resulting in the loss of approximately 10 percent of the total livestock population. Not only do such climate-related emergencies disrupt critical access to health services, severe impacts ripple through to schools, travel, and livelihoods.

Self-expression and creativity as foundation to explore difficult yet critical issues

Each morning, the workshop room buzzed with activity. Students listening intently to instructors demonstrating how light touches emotions, how compositions can help shapes and lines emerge into presence, and how storytelling transforms an ordinary scene into a spark for action. While learning to photograph portraits, landscapes, and daily life, many students also found themselves reconnecting with their cultural heritage. Field sessions offered them a chance to encounter nomadic and traditional lifestyles that some students, despite being from Mongolia, had never encountered up close.

Following photography sessions in the field, students returned to journal about climate change, the environment, and the precious landscapes and cultures they hope to preserve. Their reflections revealed a deep awareness of the serious challenges ahead but also an unwavering hope.

“To me, health and climate change aren’t separate issues… I want to solve this imbalance by creating environments where every child can breathe clean air, move freely, and grow healthy — not just survive, but truly live.”

– Enerelee Ganzorig, student and aspiring urban planner in Mongolia

Youth voices on climate change and health take centre stage

Curiosity and eagerness drove the students quickly into the final day, where their work culminated into four group presentations—each tackling the intersections of environment, climate, and health in distinct ways.

The Red Team, Land that breathes with us, explored the transformation of Ulaanbaatar’s skyline—open skies replaced by towers, clean air replaced by smog—but also anchored their message of enduring hope carried on by youth.

The Green Team, Beginning point, focused on childhood and the generation growing up amidst the changing climate. Their images captured the tenderness and complexity of growing up in Mongolia today. Despite the changing climate, their work expresses play, joy and even mischief.

The Blue Team, Beauty of Mongolia’s past and present, juxtaposed powerful images of tradition and modernity. They posed a thoughtful question: faced with these stark contrasts and uneasy coexistence, how do we step into the future?

The Yellow Team, Light (Гэрэл), tackled the topic of the social determinants of health in ten concise images—a changing climate and consequently, migration and rapidly changing lifestyles, livelihoods, policies, and how all of these affect people’s wellbeing.

To celebrate this remarkable storytelling journey, the WHO Country Office in Mongolia convened a powerful closing reception and showcase, hosted in partnership with the Ministry of Health.

The event brought together an extraordinary cross-section of national and international stakeholders—including the State Secretary of Health, Members of Parliament, ambassadors and diplomatic representatives, United Nations agencies, representatives of national health and non-health sectors, National Geographic Explorers—to recognize the work and voices of the youth participants.

Reflecting on her role as WHO Representative to Mongolia and having responded to multiple climate-related public health events, Dr Socorro Escalante reiterated, “Young people here revealed the profound interconnections between health and the environment, showing how climate change affects the daily lives of all of us living in Mongolia — the air we breathe, our food, our water, the place where we live as they are entwined to our well-being. They invite us to imagine a healthier, more resilient future.

National Geographic Society and WHO are one with youth in the belief that the most complex problems can only be addressed through partnerships and require platforms like this one — where we can all come together as a bloc with purpose — to reflect, connect, and act. Because these young voices and images matter. Their perspectives must shape the way we as decision-makers, as partners, and as leaders respond to the climate crisis.”

To address the escalating challenges posed by climate-related shocks and stresses, WHO supports in strengthening the capacity of Climate-Resilient and Environmentally Sustainable Health Sector through improved adaptive capacity to manage both current and future health impacts of climate change and interventions to mitigate climate change impact. This includes ensuring a well-trained health workforce and upgrading critical infrastructure—such as water supply, sanitation facilities, health care waste management systems and electricity. Learn more about the important work of the WHO Country Office in Mongolia in building in-country capacity for preparedness and response to emergencies, including climate-related disasters.