- SUMMARY
Despite recent political upheavals in Libya and neighbouring countries across the Sahel, Chad is on a steady path to sustainable recovery and stabilization.
Favourable rain patterns in the Sahel in 2012 are expected to yield better agricultural production in 2013. However, given the severe food-insecurity trends of 2012, the 1.8 million people who were food-insecure will now need assistance to recover sustainably and protect their livelihoods.
The situation will require close monitoring, and a targeted response is needed for the food-security and nutritional needs of vulnerable communities.
Chad avoided a cholera epidemic in 2012 (whereas in 2011, about 17,000 cases were reported, including 455 deaths). However, given the recurring nature of such epidemics, prevention and preparedness are priorities. In 2012, there was a resurgence of other diseases, including poliomyelitis and measles, and a spike in malaria and other water-related diseases linked with a severe rainy season.
Floods affected more than 560,000 people in 2012, of whom thousands were displaced. This will likely have a lasting impact on short- and medium-term livelihoods in affected areas in 2013. A combination of actions is needed to increase communities‘ capacity to manage the negative impact of future floods and avoid damage to residential areas and crops near riverbeds. This will involve collaboration among national authorities, the humanitarian community and the private sector.
Following the Libya crisis, more than 90,000 Chadian migrant workers returned to areas of origin or settled in transit zones, mostly in Faya Largeau and around Bourkou, Ennedi, Tibesti and the Sahel belt. These areas are already at high risk of food insecurity. There are still 288,457 Sudanese refugees in eastern Chad and 58,197 Central African refugees in the south, plus 537 urban refugees in N‘Djamena. An estimated 91,000 former IDPs have returned to their areas of origin, but 90,000 are still displaced. The lack of basic social services and the absence of rule of law in return areas need to be addressed using a multi-sectoral approach that includes capacity-building of local authorities and establishing conflict-resolution mechanisms to avoid intracommunity disputes. The Early Recovery Cluster is a key forum for supporting such holistic strategies.
