Extensive flooding has had devastating impacts in Chad, with more than 1,495,969 people affected in 23 provinces – the majority are women and children. Eight provinces – Mayo Kebbi Est, Tandjilé, Salamat, Mandoul, Sila, N'Djamena, Lac, and Waddi Fira – are the hardest hit, with 770,000 people affected. Nationwide, 1,297 localities have been flooded, resulting in 145 fatalities and 166,576 damaged homes. Further heavy rains are forecast, which could exacerbate the situation.
Regional insecurity is driving both internal and external forced migration/ forced population movements. Chad now has the seventh highest number of refugees in the world and the largest refugee population in the Sahel, hosting 1.2 million refugees (UNHCR). The refugee population primarily consists of Sudanese in the East, Central Africans in the South, and Nigerians in the Lac province. Approximately 220,610 internally displaced persons (IDPs) (IOM) reside around Lake Chad and over 213,000 Chadian returnees have arrived in Chad due to the Sudanese Crisis (IOM). The majority of refugees, IDPs and returnees are women and children living in precarious conditions near borders with limited access to essential services including sexual and reproductive health (SRH) and gender-based violence (GBV) services.
Situation Overview
The recurrent floods, which often affect the same communities every year, have severely damaged livelihoods and access to essential services. The floods have forced people to rely on humanitarian aid to survive and have exposed women and girls to high protection risks.
Thousands of homes have been destroyed and many families are sheltering in schools and other temporary sites. As the school year begins, shelters will soon be forced to close yet the need for shelter and essential services, including SRH services, remains high. Girls risk being deprived of an education and are exposed to increased risks of GBV as they are responsible for helping their mothers collect food, water and firewood.
30,000 livestock have been lost and over 250,000 hectares of agricultural land flooded which is negatively impacting food security, livelihoods and resulting in low purchasing power.
The persistent conflict in Sudan has resulted in regular influxes of refugees
and returnees to Chad. Chad hosts more than 1 million Sudanese refugees, 89 percent of whom are women and children (UNHCR). The influx of refugees and returnees is stretching already overburdened basic services, increasing competition for scarce resources and employment opportunities, and worsening the food insecurity crisis (IPC Phase 3).
