Disaster Relief Emergency Fund launched to support Mongolian herders
Disaster Relief Emergency Fund to support Mongolian herders.
IFRC launches Disaster Relief Emergency Fund to support Mongolian herders facing severe winter. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) has released some 160,000 USD from its Disaster Relief Emergency Fund to assist 1,500 herder families (7,500 people) in Mongolia who are at risk of losing all their livestock to extreme sub-zero temperatures and heavy snowfall. Based on the latest assessment report released by the Mongolian government, 50 districts in 16 provinces are currently categorized as being affected by dzud or the Mongolian term for severe winter conditions. The herders, most of whom are now facing difficult weather conditions and shortage of hay and fodder, are expected to start losing their livestock in the coming weeks. While this DREF is launched to ensure that immediate humanitarian needs are met in the affected areas, the Mongolian Red Cross Society is anticipating the need for a more comprehensive response. The herders are facing multiple challenges related to both freezing temperatures and lack of adequate external assistance. With very little to no cash in hand, limited means of transportation and impassable roads covered with thick snow and ice, many herders are not able to reach urban settlements to buy food, warm clothes, and coal for heating. Due to the combination of last summer’s drought and this year’s high livestock numbers, half of the pasture land in the country is estimated not to carry winter grazing that can sustain the animals, particularly through this year’s dzud.
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