People walk near the shuttered market Sudan's Gedaref city after authorities ordered its closure in order to spray pesticides in an effort to control the mosquitos that carry Dengue fever, on October 12, 2023. (Photo by AFP)
Chad called Monday for the world to step up and help feed the country and its big refugee population, including 460,000 fleeing the conflict in neighbouring Sudan.
The UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) says around 2.1 million people in Chad are suffering from severe food insecurity, calling the situation catastrophic.
The international community should “strengthen and support the humanitarian response plan, which has great needs”, Madeleine Alingue, Chad’s economic prosperity and international partnerships minister, told a press conference at the United Nations in Geneva.
ALSO READ: Thousands of children feared to be dying in Sudan – UN
She called for a wider pool of donors beyond traditional partners such as the United States and the European Union to step forward, saying the stability that Chad “must guarantee in the region” ought to wake up new contributors.
Violet Kakyomya, the UN resident and humanitarian coordinator in Chad, said the 2023 humanitarian response plan for the vast African nation, revised following the influx of refugees from Sudan, had only received about 25 percent of the $920 million requested.
“We must do better,” she said.
ALSO READ: At least 25 civilians killed in 48 hours in Sudan: activists, medic
In Chad, the third least developed country in the world according to the UN, around 5.7 million people are food insecure.
“This means that they even have difficulty guaranteeing one meal a day,” explained WFP’s Chad director Pierre Honnorat.
“The situation is catastrophic… funding stops in December, then we really have nothing left,” he warned, explaining the agency had already had to reduce aid distribution.
WFP can now support only 270,000 of the 600,000 refugees that were in Chad before the crisis in neighbouring Sudan, he said.
Chad also faces health emergencies as well as the effects of climate change and these crises combined affect some seven million of the population of 18 million.
ALSO READ: Sudan refugees stranded without healthcare in Chad
In addition, instability and regional conflicts have “a direct impact” on Chad, said Alingue, which has received “460,0000 refugees since April”, when the Sudan conflict erupted.
Download our app and read this and other great stories on the move. Available for Android and iOS.
