Chad: Humanitarian situation overview - August 2021

In Chad, 5.5 million people, or nearly one in three people, need urgent humanitarian assistance. Food insecurity and malnutrition affect 5.1 million people, including 1.7 million in its severe form. The Cadre Harmonisé released in March 2021 projected that acute malnutrition would affect 2.2 million people in Chad in 2021, especially children, for whom it is the leading cause of infant death.

Today, 1.7 million people are affected by health emergencies, including children, pregnant and breastfeeding women. This is due to limited access to basic social services (such as drinking water, sanitation, and primary health care) as well as to the emergence of epidemic diseases. From January to July 2021, nearly 2,000 cases of measles including 12 deaths were reported as well as nearly 350,000 confirmed cases of malaria, including 546 deaths. An influenza A (H1N1) epidemic is underway in the Ouaddaï. The situation is worsened by the global COVID-19 pandemic. While the restrictive measures adopted have had a positive impact on the control of the pandemic, they have also had a negative impact on access and response in some cases. Since its onset on 19 March 2020, nearly 4,800 cases and 174 deaths have been recorded in 19 provinces, as of 25 July 2021.

The Lac province is still ravaged by insecurity, attacks, incursions and infiltrations by non-state armed groups (NSAG) against the Defense and Security Forces (FDS) and local populations, causing displacements. In the South, the displacement crisis continues to grow due to the new arrival of thousands of returnees and refugees from the Central African Republic (CAR), a consequence of the action of NSAG elements across the border. Eastern Chad faces vulnerabilities related to water, health emergencies and food, exacerbated by agro-climatic hazards, affecting local communities, and refugees.

More than a million people are displaced across the country. Among these people, there are 510,325 refugees, 402,703 internally displaced people, 30,000 Chadian returnees in the Lac, and 89,800 Chadian returnees from CAR in the South.

It is expected that 300,000 people will be affected by floods in Chad in 2021. By mid-July, 25,000 people have already been affected (or 8.3%) before the peak period of August 2021, according to seasonal forecasts.