Chad: Amid humanitarian void, MSF scales-up distribution of essential supplies to Refugees from Sudan
As the rainy season begins in Chad, Doctors Without Borders /Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is significantly scaling up its activities in eastern Chad for refugees who fled the war in Sudan. Our teams have launched a mass distribution of essential life-saving items such as plastic sheeting, mosquito nets, and bars of soap to support hundreds of thousands of refugees in Aboutengué camp and Adré transit camp. This response fills a critical gap left by UN mandated agencies, as countless families in these camps have been living without proper shelter for over a year.
On June 14, our team has been distributing these non-food items in the Aboutengué camp, providing around 5,000 families with plastic sheeting. In May, MSF also provided 11,370 mosquito nets in camp, and has been distributing soap bars per month since March. We have extended this soap distribution to provide an average of 47,000 bars monthly for a further three months until August.
These supplies are essential to prevent diseases associated with the rainy season, such as malaria and diarrhoea. But as essential as they are, they are also the minimum that can be done to preserve the dignity of these people and to prevent them from being exposed to diseases when the rains come.
The needs also come from the refugee communities with whom MSF has established regular engagement, consulting them on their urgent needs and responding to critical gaps.
Since June 24, our teams have expanded these distribution activities to Adré transit camp a temporary home to more than 180,000 displaced people as per the UN data, predominantly from Darfur. 90 per cent of them are women and children.
Only during the three first days of the ongoing distribution, 14,370 families in Adré transit camp have received plastic sheeting, mosquito nets and several bars of soap each.
These hygiene items are the minimal can be provided as vital resources in an environment lacking essentials, from shelter to sanitation. MSF continues to supply 80 per cent of the water in Adré transit camp, emphasizing its commitment to meeting the basic needs of the refugees.
These scaling-up activities, costing over 2 million Swiss francs, divert funds typically allocated for medical care to meet these urgent livelihood needs—a gap that mandated UN agencies have yet to address.
“Now, with this distribution of 46,000 kits in Adré camp, we are also working in the shelter sector. This distribution will benefit 46,000 families, which represents nearly 180,000 people, who in 90 per cent of cases are women and children. This action is being carried out as part of an emergency response related to the rainy season and the upcoming malaria peak,” Méria concludes.
MSF urgently calls for a humanitarian scale-up from all partners and the UN agencies to address the dire conditions faced by refugees from Sudan in Eastern Chad and to support ongoing efforts to mitigate the long-neglected needs of an ever-increasing population.
“The needs are immense, and while these items are essential, they cannot replace proper shelters and decent living conditions,” says Florent Uzzeni, MSF Deputy Operations Manager based in Geneva.