Highlights
The total number of people displaced is estimated to be more than 130,000, of whom almost 6,951 are refugees and 65,705 people are officially registered in the Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM): 8,581 returnees, 56,725 IDPs and 399 third-country nationals. An additional 58,300 people are estimated to be living in sites.
In May, a joint WHO and UNICEF mission followed by an OCHA, DFID,
BPRM and UNICEF visited the Central African returnee sites hosting over 60,000 people to assess the humanitarian situation and find solutions for the interruption of provision of basic health services due to lack of funding.Nearly 400,000 children aged 9 months to 14 years were vaccinated in an emergency measles campaign in seven health districts affected by an outbreak in the regions of Lake, Salamat, Mandoul and Guera. The campaign also included Vitamin A supplementation and deworming.
As of the end of May, UNICEF Chad had received 17% of the total funding required for its emergency activities in 2016.
SITUATION IN NUMBERS
2,200,000 Children affected (UNICEF HAC 2016)
176,900 Children under 5 with Severe Acute Malnutrition in 2016 (Nutrition Cluster 2016)
130,984 People displaced (IDPs, returnees, TCN, refugees) in the Lake Region (DTM and UNHCR, May 2016)
UNICEF Humanitarian funding needs in 2016 US$ 62.4 million
Funds available in 2016 US$ 13.5 million
Situation Overview & Humanitarian Needs
Impact of violence in the Lake region
While the overall security situation remains stable, Boko Haram continues to target the military in the Lake region. On 12 May a military vehicle drove on an IED near Ngouboua, on the border with Nigeria, causing one death and five injured.
The total number of people displaced in the Lake region as a result of the ongoing crisis is estimated to be more than 130,984, of whom almost 6,951 are refugees and 65,705 people are officially registered in the Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM): 8,581 returnees, 56,725 IDPs and 399 third-country nationals. An additional 58,300 people are estimated to be living in sites where a formal registration exercise has not yet taken place but where IOM has done rapid assessments or partners have carried out distributions.
From 24 to 26 May an inter-cluster mission visited 5 new sites and three villages of displacement (Abourom, Bia, Loudjia, Nguilbia, Salia, Yarame, Yare and Zigueye) in the Lake region. The mission found IDPs and returnees, mostly arrived following military operations launched between July and September 2015, with more recent arrivals fleeing attacks as late as March 2016. These sites have not yet benefitted from humanitarian assistance.
Measles outbreak
An emergency response to the ongoing measles outbreak has taken place in the health districts of Bol, Bagasola, Liwa and Kouloudia (Lake), Bedjondo (Mandoul), Mongo (Guera) and Haraze (Salamat). According to Chad’s Ministry of Health epidemiological surveillance committee, as of 25 May, 577 measles cumulative cases (since January) including 5 deaths, given a fatality rate of 0.86% were recorded. Suspected measles cases have so far been reported in 64 health districts across 20 Regions of Chad (out of 23 Regions in the country).
Refugees, returnees from CAR and stateless persons in the South
61,203 returnees from CAR continue to live in returnee sites in the South and the site of Gaoui, in the outskirts of N’Djamena. The lack of funding continues to cause great concern among humanitarian actors. Emergency shelter in the sites is largely made up of tarpaulin that has withstood the sun and wind for two years, but will not likely be durable enough to withstand the current rainy season. 295 shelters were reported damaged or destroyed in the site of Gaoui during a storm on the evening of 12 May. A visit to the site on 23 May by UNICEF, the WASH cluster, the CCCM cluster and the Director of welfare at the Ministry of Social Affairs confirmed this and also noted only 7 out of 14 water pumps remained functional, as well as only about 60 out of the original 130 latrines. The showers were no longer functional, and open defecation and hygiene around water points have raised critical concerns over the need to disinfect the site’s drinking water.
Food insecurity and malnutrition
A screening conducted in Mongo by authorities and partners including UNICEF,showed a proportion of Global Acute Malnutrition of 22.6%. Of the 15,895 children under five years old screened for malnutrition, 6.1% were found to have Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM),. An emergency response has been immediately mobilized, with ECHO providing additional funds to support the delivery of ready-to-eat therapeutic foods and drugs required. The Nutrition Cluster is mobilizing partners to conduct further mass screening activities in the East of the country to determine the extent of the situation.
A nutritional survey with SMART methods is under preparation for July 2016, which is towards the peak of the lean season. The SMART survey done in November 2015 showed worrying results, considering that it was conducted in the post-harvest period and showed a nutritional situation comparable to the 2014 lean season. The new survey will provide comparable information that will enable to clearly establish the nutritional situation in Chad.
Results from the food security survey conducted by the Chadian government with WFP and other partners in April showed that 400,000 people are severely food insecure. Food insecurity has increased by ten percentage points in the regions of of Kanem, Batha, Assoungha and Wadi Fira, compared to the November survey. Overall, two million people were found to be food insecure in the eight regions of the Sahel Belt. In the department of Mamdi (Lake Region), IDPs and returnee households present a food insecurity rate of 15% against 8% in the host population. The population movements have greatly contributed to the deterioration of food insecurity in this department.