Humanitarian agencies seek additional $200 million in revised appeal for Chad

(Ndjamena/New York 23 July 2009): The United Nations and partner humanitarian organisations in Chad have launched a revised 2009 appeal seeking an additional $200 million to fund efforts to provide humanitarian assistance to more than half a million people until the end of the year.

"People in eastern and southern Chad still require considerable help from the international community as they attempt to cope with the effects of displacement and in some cases to rebuild their lives," said Ms. Eliane Duthoit, head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Chad.

Chad's 2009 Consolidated Appeals Process (CAP) originally requested $389 million. To date the appeal has received $204 million - 51 percent of the requested total. The funding mobilised for the first half of the year includes $2 million provided by the OCHA-managed Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) to support 17,000 refugees from neighbouring Central African Republic (CAR) and 5,000 members of communities hosting them.

Funds required for the second half of the year will be used to implement 86 humanitarian projects submitted by nine United Nations agencies and 16 non-governmental organisations.

Chad hosts a total of 340,000 refugees from CAR and Sudan and 171,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs). Returns of IDPs to their places of origin have begun in the east of the country. With the support of the Government and aid agencies, these returnees will begin rebuilding their lives this year. Humanitarian work for the second half of 2009 will also continue to focus on emergency relief needs, while emphasizing capacity building and promoting the self-sufficiency of vulnerable people.