Food aid to Chad’s 1.4 million refugees fleeing conflict in parts of the Sahel could end due to limited funding, the United Nations food agency warned on Tuesday.
Most of the refugees fled the war in Sudan and crossed into Chad in the last six months in numbers not seen in the last 20 years, the UN World Food Program said in a statement.
“This forgotten crisis has metastasized as the eyes of the world are focused on other emergencies … We cannot let the world stand by and let our life-saving operations grind to a halt in Chad,” said Pierre Honnorat, WFP country director in Chad.
Sudan plunged into conflict in April when long-running tensions escalated between the country’s military and rival Rapid Support Forces, resulting in the deaths of more than 5,000 people and the displacement of at least 5.2 million people amid reports of massacres, rape, and widespread. destruction, according to the UN
Many of the refugees found their way to neighboring Chad, increasing pressure on the already impoverished country as it hosts one of the largest and fastest growing refugee populations in Africa, the WFP said.
According to the UN World Food Programme, the number of refugees fleeing the war in Sudan and crossing into Chad in the last six months has not been seen in 20 years. REUTERS Food aid to 1.4 million refugees in Chad could end due to limited funding, the United Nations food agency warned on Tuesday. Reuters
“Collectively we must find a way to support the women, children and men who bear the brunt of this crisis. Cutting our aid is not an option because it would have untold consequences for millions of people, undermining years of investment in fighting hunger and malnutrition in Chad,” said Honnorat.
The WFP said that malnutrition was a major concern, with nine out of 10 new arrivals reporting “poor or borderline food consumption.”
Honnorat said WFP urgently needs $185 million to continue its support to the crisis-affected population in Chad over the next six months.
A view of refugee tents can be seen in the Metche Sudan refugee camp, Chad. Reuters
In the absence of that funding, he said, the agency had to make “brutal choices” to prioritize specific needs and groups.
“In December, WFP will be forced to suspend aid to displaced people and refugees from Nigeria, the Central African Republic, and Cameroon due to insufficient funds,” Honnorat said. “From January this suspension will be extended to 1.4 million people across Chad – including new migrants from Sudan who will not receive food as they flee across the border.”
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
