Chad
Chad has over 17 million inhabitants, almost half of whom live below the national poverty line, according to the World Bank in 2023. Given the correlation established between poverty and disability, people with disabilities are over-represented among the most vulnerable groups. This fragile situation is exacerbated by conflicts in neighbouring countries and the impact of climate change.
Chad, November 2020. Women wait at an agricultural fair organised by HI in Owoli. | © Gwenn Dubourthoumieu / HI
Actions in process
HI Chad implements emergency response interventions and development projects in the fields of assistance to victims of violence, inclusion, mine action, physical and functional rehabilitation and inclusive education in emergencies. The programme seeks innovative and sustainable solutions to respond to real needs more effectively and to support the socio-economic development of the most vulnerable through inclusion and the development of income-generating activities and vocational training.
In the Lac region, HI contributes to the protection and education of children and carries out risk education activities for host communities and displaced people affected by the crisis. The programme also runs conflict transformation, social cohesion and inclusive local development activities.
HI also supports children with disabilities through psychosocial support and rehabilitation services, and implements the Stimulation Therapy approach for malnourished children aged 6 to 59 months.
In 2023, in response to the Sudanese crisis on Chad's eastern border, HI began working with refugee populations providing rehabilitation services and mental health support. HI is also active in the region in the fields of logistics and civil engineering. Atlas Logistique provides international and local humanitarian organisations with warehousing facilities for humanitarian supplies, and an airstrip has been rehabilitated to facilitate humanitarian access.
Areas of intervention
concretely
Situation of the country
Chad has been affected by various humanitarian crises since 2003.
These crises are linked to major population movements in border areas, notably refugees from Sudan in the east, refugees and returnees from the Central African Republic in the south and, more recently, Nigerian refugees and internally displaced people in Lac Province in the west of the country. In Lac province, instability persists. This region is also affected by the consequences of climate change (increased rainfall, increased periods of aridity and drought) that are exacerbating desertification and drying up Lake Chad, at a time when the region is already under pressure from the arrival of displaced populations.
Predominantly rural, Chad is ranked among the poorest countries in terms of human development. President Idriss Déby died on 20 April 2021, the day after his fifth re-election. With Chad in deep economic recession since the 2016 presidential election and the fall in oil prices in 2014, the death of the president plunged the country into a period of uncertainty.
- Number of HI staff: 133
- Programmed opened in: 2014