CERF grants over US$12 million to Chad for underfunded emergencies

(N'Djamena, 01 April 2020): The Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Mark Lowcock approved on 18 March 2020 the disbursement of more than US$12 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) for underfunded emergencies in Chad. In 2019, the humanitarian response received a little over half of the requested funds in Chad, leaving hundreds of thousands of people in need without humanitarian assistance.

The priority of this funding is to implement vital programmes that meet the immediate needs of affected populations, particularly those in the Lac province. Activities will be carried out in the areas of nutrition, protection, WASH, food assistance, agriculture, health, logistics, CCCM, shelter and non-food items. In 2019, the humanitarian community, in support of the Government of Chad, estimated that 4.3 million people would need humanitarian assistance and targeted 2 million of the most vulnerable. However, of the US$ 476.6 million required to meet the needs of these people, approximately $ 278 million was received, or 58.3%.

News of the grant delighted the Humanitarian Coordinator in Chad, Mrs. Violette Kakyomya, who nevertheless drew the attention of the recipients to the vulnerabilities that could be aggravated by the global crisis generated by the COVID-19 pandemic. "It is good news to receive this funding, in these difficult times for the world as a whole. As these programmes are implemented in the current context, it is also important to address the potentially increased vulnerabilities resulting from any spread of the coronavirus and to maximize complementarity with ongoing response planning to COVID-19 both at national and local level ”she said. On 24 March, the humanitarian country team asked CERF recipient agencies to explore how funded programmes can be aligned with some priorities and made “COVID-response friendly”.

The eight projects benefiting from this CERF allocation will make it possible to provide multisectoral assistance to the people who need it most (in terms of food security, nutrition, protection, health and access). The goal is to provide a response to the nutritional crisis and the crisis of internally displaced people in the provinces of Lac, Kanem and Barh-El-Gazal, to provide support to Chadians affected by population movements and nutritional and food security crises, to provide humanitarian air services to enable partners to reach humanitarian intervention areas and strengthen access to essential services for survivors of sexual and gender-based violence in the Lake Chad basin.

These projects will be implemented until 31 December 2020, by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the World Food Program (WFP) and the United Nations Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS), the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO).

The humanitarian community estimates that in 2020, 5.3 million people will be in need of humanitarian assistance in Chad, including three million targeted people. To meet these needs, the humanitarian community requires $ 545.3 million, without taking into account the possible consequences of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic which also affects Chad.

Note to editors: Created by the United Nations General Assembly in 2006, CERF is a humanitarian funding mechanism managed by OCHA, which enables a faster and more effective response to vital needs of people affected by natural disasters, armed conflicts, or under-funded crises.