Chad: Help in the crisis

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A country marked by conflict: Help is currently committed to helping displaced families in the Lake Chad region and is also promoting income opportunities for young people and women through agricultural projects.

+++ We are currently supporting refugees from Sudan in eastern Chad. +++

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"Three months ago we saw that the neighbouring island was on fire. At first we thought that it was a normal bush fire, but when lots of boats left the island, we realised that it had to be Boko Haram. We then packed everything up and fled on boats towards the mainland. Apart from Help, so far no one has provided any assistance. So far only Help has given us food, sleeping mats, blankets and clean water by building a well. We are eternally grateful for that."
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What is the situation like in Chad?

Emergency aid for refugees at Lake Chad — In the Lake Chad region, many people are dependent on humanitarian aid.

Chad: Conflicts, Climate Change & Disasters

For years, the region around Lake Chad has been affected by a severe humanitarian crisis. Climate change-induced droughts and hot spells have caused the area of Lake Chad to shrink by 90 percent since 1960. This is a disaster for the resident population, as much of it depends on fishing and agriculture. This is compounded by violence from extremist groups such as Boko Haram, who have terrorized the population for years. Many families have been forced to leave their home villages. There are now around 2.5 million displaced people and refugees living in the Lake Chad region. Despite the scale of the crisis, the situation in Lake Chad rarely makes it into the media - it is a forgotten crisis.

Living conditions in the rest of the country are also a major challenge. Much of the population lives in extreme poverty, and many people lack access to clean water, sanitation, food and medical care. Climate change is also increasing weather extremes: In the fall of 2022, over 340,000 people in Chad were affected by severe flooding.

In addition, since 2003, Sudanese refugees in eastern Chad have relied on support from aid organizations like Help. They fled the conflict in Darfur and are still unable to return to their home region. Since April 2023, there has been heavy fighting in Sudan, as a result of which hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced from their homes. Since then, at least 30,000 Sudanese have fled to Chad.

How is Help providing support in Chad?

Support for small farmers — Help supports smallholder farmers so that they can provide for themselves in the long term.

Donors and partners: AHTD (Association Help-Tchad pour le Développement), AA (Department for Foreign Affairs), ADH (Aktion Deutschland Hilft), BMZ (Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development)

Strengthening resilience and creating perspectives

+++ We are currently involved in helping refugees from Sudan in eastern Chad. +++

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In the Lake Chad region, Help improves people's living conditions by distributing relief supplies, expanding access to water and sanitation, and promoting agricultural measures. As displacement is a frequent occurrence in the region, our local partners respond directly in such cases and provide those affected with shelter, relief supplies and food.

In the province of Ouaddai in eastern Chad, we focus on improving the income of young people and women. There, we support around 50 agricultural cooperatives, in which 30 smallholders grow, process and market vegetables together. In accordance with our principle of the assistance towards self-reliance, we equip the cooperatives with seeds, fertilizer, tools and equipment, provide the necessary infrastructure such as wells, pumps and storage facilities, and train the smallholders in agricultural practices and financial literacy. The project participants are then able to earn enough money from the sale of their harvest to provide for their families.

In the construction of wells in Chad, we largely rely on solar wells and train water committees to take care of the maintenance of the wells. In the Am Nabak refugee camp in the east of the country, we opened Chad's largest solar-powered water plant in 2013 and were even awarded the German Solar Prize for it.

Since 2012, we have been working closely with our partner organization AHTD in Chad, which was founded by employees of the former Help office in the country and is now one of Chad's largest aid organizations.

Photos from our projects in Chad

Eine Kleinbäuerin sitzt vor einem Feld und bearbeitet ihre Ernte

Spenden Tschad: Nothilfe für Flüchtlinge am Tschadsee

Existenzsicherung im Tschad sicher spenden

Help baut Flussschwellen für eine bessere Wasserversorgung

Aus Not wird Perspektive. Ihre Spende wirkt!

Hilfe, die weiter reicht.
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Facts and Figures

Figures about Chad

Over 6.9 million people in Chad are in need of humanitarian assistance, including 3 million children. (2023)
6 million people lack food security. (2022)
About 1.8 million children are acutely malnourished. (2023)
Over 600,000 refugees from other countries live in Chad, and about 381,000 people are internally displaced. (2023)

Sources: UNOCHA, UNICEF, IPC, UNHCR

Facts about our work

Lake Chad region:

Improving food security for 37,000 people; for example, by distributing food, (agricultural) supplies, livestock feed, seeds, restoring degraded agricultural and pasture land, and establishing vegetable gardens.
Access to water and sanitation for 61,500 people, for example, through the construction and repair of wells, training of water committees and artisans, construction of latrines, distribution of menstrual hygiene kits, and awareness campaigns.

Ouaddai Province:

50 agricultural cooperatives, each with 30 members, are supported. They will receive land for cultivation, seeds, fertilizers, agricultural equipment, infrastructure and training.

Status: April 2023