“Chad is currently hosting more than 1.3 million refugees and returnees, most of them women and children,” UNFPA Deputy Executive Director Andrew Saberton told reporters at United Nations headquarters in New York following a recent mission to eastern Chad.
During visits to refugee camps and health centers in Abéché, Adré and Wadi Fira, Saberton described overloaded clinics struggling to cope with growing demand.
In the Iridimi refugee camp, midwives told her they deliver up to 300 births each month with minimal equipment, limited medications and almost no specialized support.
Health workers also described women having to undergo emergency cesarean sections without adequate pain relief. “No woman should have to endure that.Mr. Saberton said.
Increasing risks for women and girls
The humanitarian situation has been exacerbated by increasing protection risks for women and girls. Many women are forced to travel further from the camps to collect firewood, exposing them to harassment, assault and gender-based violence.
Despite the challenges, Saberton praised local women’s centers supported by UNFPA, which provide psychosocial care, vocational training and support to survivors of violence.
Further north, in Wadi Fira province, authorities report there are more than 333,000 refugees spread across some 81,000 households, with women and children making up more than 75 percent of the population.
Refugees continue to arrive from Sudan through multiple border entry points as insecurity and violence persist.
UNFPA’s Andrew Saberton visits a hospital in Chad.
Lack of funding threatens response
Saberton warned that recent funding cuts are threatening life-saving services across Chad.
UNFPA activities in the country face a 44 per cent funding reduction this year, while only 2.5 per cent of the agency’s 2026 humanitarian appeal for Chad has been funded so far.
“The Government of Chad has shown extraordinary solidarity by keeping its borders open and sharing its already scarce resources with people fleeing violence,” Saberton said. “That solidarity must now be accompanied by international support.”