Mongolia experiences a unique disaster locally known as "dzud" (harsh winter conditions). During these events, large numbers of livestock perish due to starvation or direct cold exposure. This poses a significant threat to the livelihoods of nomadic herder communities, constituting 25 to 30 percent of the Mongolian population according to the National Statistics Office.

Since the 1990s, Mongolia has witnessed an increase in dzud occurrences, attributed to climate change, poor pasture management, and policy issues (Disaster White Book, 2021). The Mongolian government has taken substantial steps to mitigate the impacts of dzud, including the implementation of livestock laws and the production of dzud risk maps. The Dzud risk map, published by the National Agency for Monitoring and Environmental Monitoring (NAMEM) annually between October and December, categorizes dzud risk into five levels based on parameters like snow cover, density, air temperature, and vegetation.

In the first half of 2023, high temperatures and low precipitation led to severe drought in Mongolia during the

summer, resulting in insufficient grass for livestock to accumulate fat reserves for winter survival. Humanitarian Response: The Dzud risk map released in December 2022 revealed concerning risk levels across Mongolia. it indicated that 16 per cent of the Mongolian territory was at the highest level of dzud risk, 43 per cent at a high level of risk, 33 per cent at a moderate risk, and 10 per cent at a low and the least level of risk. The meteorology office had reported anomalous low temperatures in late December. According to the MRCS National Disaster Response Team (NDRT) deployment mission report (26 November-3 December 2022), due to the drought and economic inflation, meat prices had significantly reduced, consequently decreasing the income of herders. The combination of drought, economic inflation, and severe winter conditions posed a threat to herder households' basic needs.

In response to the escalating crisis, MRCS initiated an Imminent IFRC-DREF operation (CHF 136,038) with IFRC support in December 2022, providing financial assistance and psychosocial support to 1,000 herder households in high-risk locations as early actions.

Intensification of the Crisis and Expanding Relief Efforts:

A severe cold wave struck in January, with temperatures plummeting to -50 degrees Celsius in Zavkhan province and Uvs province. In other provinces, the air temperature was 3-4 degrees Celsius lower than the multi-year average. Snow coverage height was 37 cm in the central region and an average of 27 cm in the western region, preventing livestock from grazing. According to the task force staff at the Ministry of Food, Agriculture, and Light Industries (MoFALI), the crisis affected 29,346 herder households, or 115,956 individuals.

Considering the worsening situation, MRCS requested additional funding (CHF 467,834) and approval to scale up and extend (three months) the Imminent IFRC-DREF operation. The request was granted in March 2023, enabling MRCS to support herder households severely impacted by the dzud.

Beneficiary Targeting and Geographic Reach:

MRCS employed a two-stage criteria approach for beneficiary selection, prioritizing households with 200 to 400 livestock in the first stage and those meeting specific vulnerability criteria, such as households with disabled members or pregnant women, in the second stage. This approach identified 11,660 people from 2,934 herder households as vulnerable by the soum authorities based on their social status and subsistence level threshold.

These households had not received assistance from any international or local organizations and were located in Arkhangai, Bayan-Ulgii, Bayankhongor, Dornogovi, Dundgovi, Govi-Altai, Govisumber, Khovd, Umnugovi, Uvurkhangai, Sukhbaatar, Tuv, Uvs, Zavkhan, Dornod, Khentii provinces, and Baganuur, Bagakhangai districts in Ulaanbaatar. In this top-up phase, MRCS provided assistance to an additional 2,000 herder households severely affected by the dzud crisis. This assistance included unconditional and unrestricted cash assistance, the distribution of animal care kits, and the provision of psychosocial support.

In this expanded phase of relief efforts, MRCS provided assistance to affected herder households in 20 provinces and 2 districts within the capital city, Ulaanbaatar, extending its reach beyond the initial 13 provinces.