Food, Shelters and Clothes / Refugees and IDPs

Snow disaster by severe cold waves in the wintertime is called "zud" in Mongolia. People are apprehensive of "zud" as many livestock die due to extreme cold and deep snow. The snow can pile up as high as one meter in places where snowfall is usually very rare. As a result, the transportation network is obstructed and nomads become isolated.
Mongolia experienced zud in two consecutive years, in the winters of 1999-2000 and 2000-2001, causing great damage to the country including victims who were frozen to death. PWJ then offered emergency support to the country by providing food, animal feed, fuel and medicines.

Nomads who lost livestock due to the zud poured into cities and their children became street children. Multi-faceted support was then indispensable to tackle this problem. The stockbreeding industry, a main industry of the country, was seriously devastated by zud, which also had adverse effect on welfare and education as well as the national economy of Mongolia.

Support for the Zud of 1999-2000 (Feb/2000~Aug/2000)

It is reported that 2.4 to 3 million livestock starved or froze to death and that 2,400 families were deprived of all the livestock they had owned by the zud of 1999-2000. There were also human causalities who froze to death. PWJ and the Kyoku Shu Zan Development Fund (*1) carried out emergency support activities in places such as Dundgobi prefecture, where the damage was especially widespread.

In Dundgobi prefecture, PWJ provided enough food for two months such as rice and dry milk as well as medicines for livestock to 970 nomadic families. In Zavkhan prefecture, PWJ distributed vitamins to those who were undernourished and had lost resistance to diseases because of the shortage of food. It also provided 24 horses to doctors who had lost their horses for medical consultations in that prefecture.

The government had installed and operated wells for livestock on the pasture during the socialist economy era. After the market economy was introduced, however, these wells came in to disrepair or livestock only concentrated on certain parts of the grassland leading to an imbalance. PWJ therefore repaired 57 wells and organized the nomads to carry out maintenance of the wells themselves .

*1: Kyoku Shu Zan is an active and famous sumo wrestler in Japan originally from Mongolia

Support for the Zud of 2000-2001 (Jan/2000~Oct/2001)

Approximately 3.4 million livestock starved or froze to death due to the zud of 2000-2001. It is reported that 7,300 families lost all the livestock they had owned and 34 people froze to death. PWJ distributed food for livestock (dried grass and fodder bags) in six districts of Tofu prefecture, where the damage was especially severe.

A survey revealed that many of seriously affected victims were inexperienced nomads who became nomads only after the introduction of the market economy allowed ownership of livestock. PWJ recognized that it was important for young nomads to develop the skills necessary to live a successful nomadic life and become more resistant to natural disasters. PWJ therefore started long-term support such as practical training for inexperienced nomads with the help of experienced nomads.

They learned how to protect the livestock from the cold and feed the livestock efficiently from the experienced nomads. For those who wished, further training was given on how to build a livestock pen. PWJ tried to provide support both to inexperienced and experienced nomads. Experienced nomads were provided livestock feed as well as labor by the trainees while the trainees were offered remuneration.