Skip to main content

ECHO Factsheet – Chad – October 2018

Countries
Chad
+ 5 more
Sources
ECHO
Publication date
Origin
View original

FACTS & FIGURES

Ranks 186 out of 188 countries in Human Development Index (UNDP)

4.4 million people are in need of humanitarian aid (OCHA)

4 million people are food insecure, of which 1 million need emergency humanitarian assistance

446 000 refugees from Central African Republic, South Sudan, Nigeria and some 108 000 internally displaced (UNHCR)

EU humanitarian aid funding: €54.7 million in 2018 €309.5 million since 2013

Introduction

Chad is one of the poorest countries in the world. On top of a critical food and nutrition situation, violence in neighbouring countries forced thousands of people to flee to Chad, while internal forced displacement continues in the Lake Chad region. EU humanitarian aid provides food assistance, life-saving nutrition treatment for undernourished children, and support to fight epidemics. Aid reaches internally displaced people, refugees, and host communities.

What are the needs?

Chad faces numerous challenges: food and nutrition insecurity, forced displacement, climate change (especially drought), epidemics (hepatitis E, cholera), and chronic poverty. As a result, about 4.4 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance.

Four million people are affected by food insecurity and malnutrition, particularly in the Sahel belt, a situation that worsens each year during the lean season from June to September. Due to irregular rainfall in the Sahel during 2017, which had a negative impact on the livelihoods of rural households in Chad, 2018 is a particularly tough year for the region. About one million people need emergency food assistance - 10% more than last year. The nutritional situation is particularly worrisome, with 268 000 children suffering from severe malnutrition.

Violence and conflict in Chad's neighbouring countries (Central African Republic, Niger, Nigeria, Libya, and Sudan) have led to an influx of 446 000 refugees and asylum-seekers; however, as one of the poorest countries in the world, Chad's capacity to provide assistance to them is rather limited. In the first months of 2018, close to 30 000 new refugees crossed the border into Chad as violence escalated in Central African Republic.

How are we helping?

The European Union is one of the main donors present in Chad. Since 2013, the EU has provided €309.5 million to support vulnerable people affected by the various humanitarian crises. In 2018 alone, the EU has provided €54.7 million in Chad.

The EU’s humanitarian aid provides food assistance, supports centres treating severe malnutrition, assists displaced people and refugees and fights epidemics, such as cholera and hepatitis E.

EU aid in Chad has made a tangible difference. In 2017, more than 200 000 children under the age of five needed treatment for severe malnutrition. The European Union funded 75 percent of the special therapeutic food required to save their lives.

In areas with many internally displaced people, the EU supports access to primary and secondary healthcare. The European Union also funds emergency education for internally displaced people, and protection for people fleeing from violence in the Lake Chad area.

The EU and its humanitarian partners set up agricultural activities in east and southern Chad to promote self-reliance and self-sufficiency of refugees. Other partners' projects help Chadian returnees and Central African and Sudanese refugees to integrate into local communities.

In 2018, the European Union has also focussed on providing assistance to the newly-arrived Central African refugees by registering them and covering their most basic needs: shelter, food, health care, water and protection.

EU assistance also enables humanitarian access to those in need, for instance by funding the United Nations Humanitarian Air Service UNHAS, which helps aid organisations access hard-to-reach areas where refugees and internally displaced people live.