Attachments
Key Developments
· Chadian migrant workers continue to flee Libya due to conflict that began on February 17. As of May 5, more than 43,000 people had returned to Chad from Libya as a result of recent unrest, according to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). Prior to the conflict, approximately 300,000 Chadians resided in Libya, drawn by employment opportunities.
· Following a three-week delay, presidential elections occurred on April 25, according to media sources. The National Independent Electoral Commission had earlier postponed the elections due to lack of capacity to organize a transparent vote. On May 9, provisional results indicated that incumbent Idriss Deby, who has remained in power since 1990, won a fourth five-year term. The opposition boycotted the election after the Government of Chad (GoC) ignored demands for electoral reform.
· Infectious disease outbreaks continue in Chad. Between March 12 and April 20, Chadian health facilities registered more than 7,400 cases of measles, cholera, and meningitis combined, including 230 deaths, according to OCHA.
· Although favorable rains resulted in an above-normal 2010/2011 harvest, cereal availability is not likely to meet the food needs of populations residing in chronically food-insecure areas, according to USAID-funded Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) projections through June 2011. In addition, conflict in Libya, which has disrupted overland trade routes, has resulted in increased prices of imported commodities, decreasing households’ purchasing power.
· To date in FY 2011, USAID/OFDA has provided nearly $8.5 million to support humanitarian activities in Chad, benefiting more than 909,000 people. Through interventions in agriculture and food security, economic recovery and market systems, health, nutrition, and water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH), USAID/OFDA grantees address immediate needs while laying the foundation for longer-term recovery. In addition, USAID’s Office of Food for Peace (USAID/FFP), through the U.N. World Food Program (WFP), has provided more than $42 million in FY 2011 emergency food assistance to Chad.