N'djamena: Two UN agencies warned that more than one million Sudanese refugees in Chad are facing immediate and life-threatening cuts to food, water, shelter, protection, and healthcare, as the conflict in Sudan approaches its third year.
According to Qatar News Agency, a joint statement issued on Thursday by UNHCR and the World Food Programme highlighted that essential assistance for refugees in Chad is set to be sharply reduced in the coming months unless a 428 million USD funding gap is urgently addressed.
The agencies emphasized that conditions in refugee camps remain extremely critical, with around 80,000 families currently without shelter due to funding shortages. In some locations, refugees are surviving on less than half the minimum daily water requirement per person.
The statement further indicated that current resources allow UNHCR to provide basic assistance to only four out of every ten refugees, leaving large numbers without adequate access to shelter, water, and essential healthcare.
It also mentioned that health centers are operating beyond capacity, vital protection services for survivors of violence are being scaled back, and education services are under severe strain, with many classrooms hosting more than 100 children per teacher.
Chad currently hosts around 1.3 million Sudanese refugees, including more than 900,000 who have arrived since the outbreak of war in Sudan in April 2023.