In response to this year’s dire winter which hit Mongolia herding communities, the Ministry of Health (MOH) is launching a project in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO) to address the needs of people living and working in rural areas.

The project’s goals are to bring human and technical support to both herders’ families and medical teams operating in the Mongolian soums most affected by the zud in order to prevent the spread of communicable diseases and improve life conditions. Overall the project will support around 500 rural health workers in the 65 affected soums of 12 provinces.

As such, the project will provide psychosocial* support to herders’ families and guidance on crisis management as well as essential emergency medical supplies. Psychosocial interventions will also be provided for local doctors and paramedics. Meanwhile, hygiene and disinfection materials for health workers and development and dissemination of IEC materials for prevention of communicable diseases will be delivered. The project will also carry out improvement of water storage, sewage disposal, sanitation facilities and hygiene conditions in the soums health facilities. Warm clothing, gloves and other protective gear will be distributed to local doctors and emergency workers to prevent exposure to the country’s extreme cold temperatures.

The project will be implemented in partnership with the Mongolia’s MOH, local health departments, the National Mental Health Centre, the Mongolian Red Cross, the National Emergency Management Agency and Professional Committee on Psychology.

This project is funded by the United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF).

*Psychosocial is a term which refers to one’s psychological development in and interaction with its social environment. It is usually used in the context of “psychosocial intervention” and points toward solutions for individual challenges in interacting with an element of the social environment.

Psychosocial support is often used with victims of disaster, catastrophe or violence to help them recover from a trauma or a crisis. It aims at easing resumption of normal life, facilitate affected people participation to their convalescence and preventing pathological consequences of potentially traumatic situations.