Mongolian Red Cross: Cash for Herders Before the Dzud

Dzud winters have killed up to 11 million animals in Mongolia, and about 40 percent of Mongolians depend on livestock. In January 2020 the Mongolian Red Cross Society became the first to use the IFRC's forecast-based financing: after the weather agency warned on 2 January that over half the country was at risk, CHF 210,968 was released for roughly US$90 cash grants to 1,000 herder families. In the 2020/21 winter, with over 60 percent of the country at risk, the approach reached more than 7,000 vulnerable people in 19 provinces with cash for fodder and essentials plus livestock nutrition kits. Studies found early action doubled the chance that families saved their horses, and fewer newborn animals died. The society, headquartered in Ulaanbaatar, was still posting winter-preparedness and programme updates in October 2026.