Round-up: Updates from Nigeria and Mongolia

The Round-up offers a weekly sample of what our sister Red Cross Societies are working on around the world.

NIGERIA: Nigeria has successfully reached zero cases of polio, and, in 2015, the World Health Organization announced the paralyzing disease was no longer endemic in the country.
In an effort to maintain zero polio cases in Nigeria, the Swedish Red Cross, through the IFRC, has been supporting the Nigerian Red Cross Society in raising awareness on the importance of polio vaccinations in Dambatta, Bebeji and Ungogo local government areas of Kano State. A total of 100 Red Cross volunteers have been trained and mobilized to encourage parents to ensure the vaccination of all children under the age of five with the oral polio vaccine. This is coupled with intensified house-to-house health education in the communities, where the volunteers visit homes and schools three times a week.  The Red Cross volunteers, once equipped with knowledge on other health-related issues, can be a good resource for communities. The work of the volunteers is crucial in supporting routine immunizations and increasing health promotion messages. The Nigerian Red Cross Society is considering implementing an integrated health program using a community-based approach in the coming years.
 
MONGOLIA: On the vast Mongolian grasslands, livestock are dying in the thousands due to an ever worsening winter ‘Dzud’. Extreme temperatures, snow storms and heavy snowfall, and in many areas a thick layer of ice are preventing livestock from grazing efficiently. These current conditions have been compounded by the effects of last summer’s drought which has left pastures in a very bad condition. Millions of animals are likely to die from starvation in the coming weeks and months, depriving vulnerable herder families of their only livelihood.  The Red Cross is preparing to distribute food parcels and cash to more than 1,500 vulnerable herder families and aims to provide vocational training and small business development to ensure families have a secure livelihood in the future.
 

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