AKIPRESS.COM - The European Commission is allocating €420,000 (MNT 974 million) in humanitarian aid funding to provide emergency relief to families impacted by the dzud climatic phenomenon, which has triggered extreme temperatures in many parts of the country. The funds will be used to provide food assistance and cash transfers to meet the immediate needs of the most vulnerable populations.

“The extreme weather conditions prompted by the current dzud event are threatening food security, health, income and other sources of livelihood amongst hundreds of thousands of herders. This humanitarian aid funding from the European Commission will ensure that many of the most affected households will be able to survive through this hard time,” said Christos Stylianides, EU Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management.

The unusually harsh winter conditions induced by the dzud phenomenon have severely hampered the capacity of populations in isolated areas to access food and livelihood resources whilst devastating livestock herds. According to a recent assessment by the United Nations, 211 out of a total 339 districts in Mongolia have experienced dzud or near-dzud conditions since mid-January, with estimated over 225,000 people living in high-risk areas.

These funds will enable the Commission's humanitarian partners, namely the International Federation of the Red Cross/Red Crescent (IFRC) and a joint consortium between International NGOs People in Need and Caritas Czech Republic, to implement life-saving assistance programmes in the affected areas. The aid will directly benefit a total of 19,750 people in 12 out of the country’s 21 provinces.

Characterised by a prolonged summer drought followed by severe winter conditions, the latest dzud started in November 2015 and has triggered a series of heavy snowfalls, snowstorms and severe cold-weather conditions across large parts of Mongolia. The harsh winter has not only killed over 115,000 head of livestock and impacted the production of fodder, but also blocked access to pastoral land and urban areas where essential services are located.

The dzud, which poses particular risks to the survival of herder families in remote, rural areas whose day-to-day livelihoods are completely dependent on livestock, is expected to intensify this year due to the ongoing strength of El Niño, a climatic phenomenon which disrupts weather patterns worldwide. With these harsh conditions likely to persist, it is estimated that close to one million people could be affected.

The last dzud to have struck Mongolia occurred in 2009 and 2010, killing some 9.7 million head of livestock and affecting more than 769,000 individuals, almost 220,000 of whom lost their entire herd. At the time, the EU contributed a total of € 2.15 million to address the emergency needs of the hardest-hit families.