MEDIA RELEASE
Released By:
Patterson
I am pleased to announce the Australian Government will provide $350,000 to
help victims of severe snow storms in Mongolia.
Mongolia has experienced heavy snows and unusually cold temperatures
following widespread summer drought. The extremely cold temperatures and lack of
grass have resulted in drastically reduced stock numbers and impacted severely
on food supplies for some 75,000 herders and their families - approximately 38%
of the region's population. By the end of January, 605,300 head of livestock,
the mainstay of the rural economy and the main source of food, had died. If the
current weather conditions continue, the number of dead stock is likely to rise
to exceed six million.
In the autonomous Chinese region of Inner Mongolia, freak blizzards have
caused the death of 39 people and over 220,000 head of livestock. As many as
40,000 people are affected by food shortages. The Red Cross has warned that
nomadic herders in Inner Mongolia could face starvation unless aid gets to them
quickly.
Through AusAID, the Australian Government's aid agency, $350,000 will be
given to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
(IFRC) to provide immediate supplies of food, quilts and coal. $250,000 will go
to the IFRC in Mongolia and $100,000 to the IFRC in Inner Mongolia.
Media contacts:
Louise Ahern (Senator Patterson's office) 02 6277 3800 /
0409 034 403
Fionna Douglas (AusAID) 02 6206 4960 / 0412 804
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