Lake Chad: how EU humanitarian aid supports the most vulnerable

Chad faces complex, interlinked humanitarian crises: food and nutrition insecurity, forced displacement, natural hazards, and epidemics. Around 6.4 million people (40% of the population) require humanitarian assistance in 2020. An estimated 4.6 million people are struggling to find enough food. About 1.8 million need life-saving food support during the “lean” season, between harvests, when food reserves are depleted.

Violence and conflict in neighboring countries have resulted in an influx of refugees and asylum seekers into Chad. Due to the lack of resources and infrastructure, the capacity to support displaced people is limited. Since the start of the year, at least 97,000 more people have been forced to flee their villages. They had to escape violence by armed groups in the Lake Chad region.

The EU is one of the main humanitarian donors in Chad. In 2020, EU humanitarian funding is supporting 25 projects targeting internally displaced people, refugees, and host communities. The initiatives help them cover their basic needs by providing them with shelter, food and nutrition, healthcare, water, sanitation, education, and protection for the most vulnerable.

Recently, the EU’s Humanitarian Aid office in Chad visited several projects we support in the Lake Chad region, including projects run by the UN’s Refugee Agency (UNHCR) with EU funding. These projects help refugees and people displaced by the regional conflict. Regular field visits by EU humanitarian experts across the world allow for a detailed analysis of the exact needs of populations, to focus assistance on the most vulnerable.

Text: European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid, 2020

Last updated18/12/2020