 A Mongolian woman was honored
last week by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
The event, Americans for U.N.
Population Fund Gala for the Health and Dignity of Women in New York
City, honored a variety of women from around the world.
Dr. Dorj Munkhuu, a policy
leader for women in Mongolia, was among the honorees.
Dr. Dorj Munkhuu is known throughout
Mongolia as one of the country’s most respected and influential leaders.
A great-grandmother, doctor and member of Parliament, Dr. Munkhuu has
helped shape democracy in Mongolia and brought about changes that improve
women’s health, social and political power.
She began her career as a doctor,
having grown up in a family of herdsmen with a father who provided basic
medical care, thanks to his military training, in her own and surrounding
communities. She had witnessed his valued role in society, and also
watched as her mother, like other women in nomadic families, shouldered
the demands of raising both livestock and children— often at the expense
of their health.
Under a socialist regime, Dr.
Munkhuu became a leader and progressed quickly from practicing medicine
to designing and running comprehensive health and social programs. In
the 1990s Dr. Munkhuu won a seat in the new Parliament and became one
of the first female parliamentarians of the Democratic system.
Dr. Munkhuu has since helped
to write the country’s constitution and signed into law many provisions
for assuring women’s health and dignity. Today, she works with UNFPA
to bring health services to women in nomadic herder families and galvanizes
women’s groups to reach across party lines and raise up political
leaders from among the women of Mongolia.
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