WEST AND CENTRAL AFRICA Chad
© UNICEF/NYHQ2010-1172/Gangale
Eta Brahim washes her undernourished baby’s hands, at a nutrition centre in Bar-El-Ghazel Region. More than 100,000 under age 5 children are malnourished. Food insecurity also affects 460,000 internally displaced or neighbouring country refugees.
Sahel Humanitarian Action Update [PDF]
Children and Women in Crisis
Hunger, displacement and disease mark the lives of millions in Chad. More than 100,000 children under 5 suffer from malnutrition, with 1 out of every 10,000 dying daily.1 Droughts, floods and pests in 2011, as well as repercussions of the 2009–2010 drought, have heightened food insecurity for people, especially for about 1.3 million in the Sahel strip. In eastern and southern Chad, nearly 350,000 Sudanese and Central African Republic refugees depend on humanitarian efforts. Roughly 180,000 fled conflict in eastern Chad, but only about 56,000 returned to destroyed villages, without access to social and health services. More than 111,000 displaced women and children still depend on humanitarian assistance at resettlement sites.2
About 65 per cent of returnees and internally displaced persons are children at risk of trafficking, economic exploitation and recruitment from armed forces. Women also face exploitation and violence. In eastern Chad, many areas remain afflicted by mines, unexploded ordnance and abandoned munitions. Lack of sanitation and immunizations have caused epidemics – cholera (17,217), measles (7,647), meningitis (5,865) and polio (119, all children under 5) – potentially affecting more than 2.2 million children under 5.3 Conflict and the vulnerability of the educational system (lack of infrastructure, materials and qualified teachers) countrywide still affects access to quality education and outcomes for the most marginalized children in Chad.
Meeting Urgent Needs in 2012
UNICEF, as cluster lead in nutrition, WASH and education, will work with the Government of Chad and international agencies to improve the lives of 2 million vulnerable people, including marginalized nomads in the Sahel belt (440,000 women, 660,000 girls and 640,000 boys). As sub-cluster lead in child protection, UNICEF will continue to increase awareness of gender-based violence for 90,000 children, women and men, including local authorities, religious leaders, members of youth clubs, judiciary and security.
- UNICEF will increase routine immunizations for polio, meningitis, measles and tetanus; provide deworming tablets, vitamin A supplementation and insecticide-treated mosquito nets; and improve prenatal care and obstetric services for approximately 500,000 refugees, internally displaced persons and people in host communities.
- Approximately 100,000 malnourished children in the Sahel belt will be treated through community-based management of services and distribution of Plumpy’doz.
- Access to safe water will be improved for 300,000 people. WASH activities at the school level will protect against health risks and diseases. Provision of potable water and construction of separate latrines will encourage school attendance and retention, mainly for girls. In cholera epicentres (Guerra, Lac, Mayo Kebbi East and West) UNICEF will provide access to potable water.
- Education in the Sahel belt will be ensured for 400,000 pre- and primary schoolchildren among refugees, internally displaced persons, returnees and those living in host communities.
- Psychosocial support and child-friendly activities will be supported for children in eastern Chad, including 12,000 girls and 7,000 boys.
- UNICEF will prevent child military recruitment by training 300 Armée Nationale Tchadienne officers, sensitizing 1,500 members of local child protection committees, training and supporting 20 programme staff, and monitoring visits in military establishments.
- Information on HIV and AIDS prevention, care and treatment will be provided to peer educators in youth centres, and community dialogue to benefit 150,000 people (44,000 boys, 56,000 girls and 16,000 pregnant women).
Humanitarian Funding at Work: Highlights from 2011As of end October 2011, US$18,333,375 (40 per cent) of a requested US$45,639,000 had been received. With this funding, UNICEF treated about 65,000 malnourished children under 5, distributed nutrition supplements to 60,000 children, provided 75,000 children with vitamin A supplements and their families with insecticide-treated mosquito nets, and immunized 90 per cent of infants and pregnant women in refugee and resettlement camps. More than 1,000 teachers for refugees, internally displaced and host community children were trained, and gender-appropriate latrines were installed in 120 primary schools. Some 30,000 youth were educated regarding HIV and AIDS, nearly 6,000 pregnant women were tested for HIV, with almost half of those who tested positive receiving treatment. Survivors of gender-based violence were assisted through listening centres and youth clubs, and psychosocial support was provided to nearly 8,000 children in 32 child-friendly spaces. UNICEF also helped 15,000 children in eastern Chad obtain birth certificates, instructed about 11,000 people in mine risk and unexploded ordnance, reunited 165 children who had been in the military in N’Djamena with family, and provided independent housing and re-entry into the workforce for 13 per cent of those children. |
Funding Requirements for 2012
UNICEF is requesting US$46,424,000 to continue humanitarian work in Chad. UNICEF has aligned this request with the 2012 Consolidated Appeals Process (CAP) requirements. Inadequate funding will result in loss of the progress achieved in providing access to basic essential services in sites for refugees and internally displaced persons. Lack of adequate resources will also have a negative impact on the morbidity and mortality rates of an estimated 2.2 million children under 5.
More information on humanitarian action planned for 2012 can be found at www.unicef.org/hac2012.
1 United Nations Children’s Fund, ‘Preliminary Report Survey: Nutrition and mortality in 11 regions of Chad – From 16 August to 15 September 2011’, p. 14.
2 Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, ‘Estimates of Displaced Persons as of 31 August 2011’, UNHCR Chad, Gore, 2011 .
3 Government of Chad, ‘Integrated Epidemiologic Surveillance Service: Weekly meeting of the national technical committee for the battle against epidemics – Week 45’, Chad Ministry of Public Health, N’Djamena, 16 November 2011. UNICEF Chad population estimate with 3.6 per cent annual population growth projections for 2011.
