(Addis Ababa/Jeddah/N'Djamena, 21 November 2014): A high-level mission today wrapped up a week-long visit to Chad raising attention for the human suffering and calling for more engagement of the international community in the Central African Country.
The five-day mission was jointly led by the African Union Commission (AU), the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). Participants included representatives from the Arab League, Azerbaijan, Germany, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, Qatar, USA and partners from non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and charities from different Gulf States.
“We have seen the effects of food insecurity and malnutrition in the Sahel zone and the impact of population movements due to violence in the Central African Republic (CAR) and other neighbouring countries," said H.E. Dr. Aisha L. Abdullahi, Commissioner for Political Affairs of the AU. "We are here to raise awareness about the human suffering caused by these chronic and sudden impact crises. Chad needs our African and international solidarity."
The participants discussed with local authorities and communities affected by crises during field trips to a nutrition centre and a farmer collective for women in Mao, Kanem region, in Chad's Sahel zone, and in the temporary camp of Maingama, Moyen Chari region, at the border with CAR.
"We were able to get a firsthand impression of the difficulties people in Chad face every day, notably the extremely vulnerable populations in the Sahel and the Chadian returnees from CAR who are struggling to get back on their feet," said H.E. Mr. Hesham Youssef, Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs of the OIC. "We also saw the great efforts made to bring relief to the most vulnerable and the excellent work done by humanitarian teams in cooperation with the Government. But huge needs remain to be covered."
In Chad, 2.6 million people - a quarter of the population - are living in food insecurity and over 63,000 children are malnourished, notably in the Sahel zone. Early in 2014, an estimated 150,000 people fled violence in CAR to Chad and continue to need assistance.
"Humanitarian and development actors have to work together closely in order to build communities' resilience," said Mr. Rashid Khalikov, Director of OCHA Geneva. "Continued donor engagement and new innovative partnerships are necessary to alleviate the acute human suffering and lift people out of vulnerability."
The mission to Chad was the fourth high-level partnership mission organised by OCHA and the OIC, with the AU co-leading for the first time.
For further information, please contact:
Augustin Zusanné, OCHA Chad, zusanne@un.org Phone: +235 63 90 09 13
Abdoulaye Kebe, OIC Jeddah, kebe@oic-oci.org
Michel Nshimba, AU Addis Ababa, nshimbam@africa-union
