March 23, 2010 – On March 19, Mongolian Prime Minister S. Batbold received Felix Fellmann, Director of the SDC Mongolia (Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation), who released humanitarian aid of 500,000 CHF to support the Mongolian herders most affected by dzud.

The dzud devastated thousands of herders across the country, who lost much of their livestock and their means of subsistence. The Mongolian Government launched an appeal to the international community for immediate aid to affected herders, a population estimated at 200,000 people.

The aid released by the SDC will help more than 9,000 herding families (36,000 people) in the 20 soums most severely impacted.

"This aid will be distributed through herders' organizations, who will themselves identify and define their needs before deciding how best to use the relief support," Fellmann declared.

Prime Minister S. Batbold stated that he appreciated the SDC's support at a time when Mongolia was experiencing one of its harshest winters in 30 years. "This is substantial support to help herders economically. But more importantly, it is moral support that restores confidence to herders and enables them to decide for themselves how they will rebuild their herds and their lives. I know that Swiss development aid is much more focused on herders' livelihoods and will help them face their social and economic challenges. Mongolia is grateful to Switzerland for its generous support," S. Batbold declared.

The SDC project aims to protect vulnerable herders and help them avoid slipping deeper into poverty. It will facilitate the delivery of necessary humanitarian relief to herders to help them meet their most urgent needs, including food, energy, medical supplies, and cash subsidies to purchase fodder and medicines.

Swiss aid will be distributed to herders based on a bottom-up approach that allows herders themselves to define their needs and decide how best to use the relief funds. This approach proved effective in the SDC's humanitarian project "Cash for Herders" conducted from 2002 to 2006, when a total of 2.1 million francs in subsidies was granted to 7,500 herding families. Evaluations showed that herders used this aid wisely. This approach also aligns with Swiss development practices that give beneficiaries the freedom to choose.

While addressing herders' immediate humanitarian needs, the SDC will also focus on risk reduction. The SDC has committed to longer-term interventions in the areas of sustainable pasture management, desertification control, and the creation of alternative livelihoods in rural areas. In implementing this project, herders' organizations in the provinces of Zavkhan, Arkhangai, Tov, and Dundgobi will play an important role in mitigating the effects of dzud.

The project will be implemented by the Mongolian Society for Rural Reconstruction (MSRM), an NGO working in cooperation with local government. With SDC support, the MSRM has facilitated the creation of herders' organizations in 55 soums across the country.

"While the SDC works to address the immediate needs of herders affected by dzud, its long-term objective remains ensuring sustainable pasture and herd management by increasing livestock productivity, addressing overgrazing issues, and promoting new income sources for herders," Mr. Fellmann stated.

"The SDC continues to support the MSRM in developing laws on pasture management, in cooperation with other stakeholders, to ensure a sustainable future for Mongolia's herding sector." The SDC believes this aid will also help prevent migration from rural areas to urban centers, as occurred following the dzuds of 1999 to 2003, which led to the doubling of Ulan Bator's population (from 600,000 to 1.3 million inhabitants).

Charlène Nomadays – SEO editor from Nomadays' earliest days, now content manager and head of communications, Charlène has accompanied the adventure from its inception with passion and dedication. After living seven years in Asia – from China to Thailand, passing through Mongolie and South Korea – she has made travel a way of being in the world. A lover of words, nature, and human connection, she strives to convey in her writing a sensitive, engaged, and responsible vision of tourism. For her, each article is a bridge between curiosity, respect, and wonder.