AKIPRESS.COM - Severe winter conditions called Dzud have followed a summer drought, leaving millions of animals at risk of starvation in Mongolia.
Without the animals as a source of income, food and transport, herders and their families will remain trapped in severe conditions with a lack of basic health care and social services, or forced to migrate to Ulaanbaatar and live in extreme poverty.
“In Mongolia, I’ve met herders fighting to keep their animals alive in an extremely harsh winter that magnifies the struggles of an already vulnerable population,” said Gwendolyn Pang, head of IFRC in East Asia.
“The emergency help we are announcing will target the hardest hit households, those with young children, five or more children, an older person or a person with a disability. It will be enough to cover their essential needs for at least one month.”
In response, IFRC has released 257,842 Swiss francs (US dollars 277,000) from its Disaster Relief Emergency Fund to support the Mongolian Red Cross Society reach 2,500 herder families in seven provinces in Mongolia with cash grants or emergency supplies.