One million Sudanese refugees in Chad face life-threatening cuts in aid

In a joint statement issued today, the UNHCR and the World Food Program indicated that basic assistance provided to refugees in Chad will witness an additional sharp reduction in the coming months, unless a funding shortfall of $428 million is closed.

Chad hosts 1.3 million Sudanese refugees, of whom more than 900,000 have arrived since the outbreak of war in 2023. One in thirteen people in Chad is considered a refugee; This percentage increases in the eastern regions to one in three people.

The joint statement stated that the current available resources allow UNHCR to provide basic assistance to only four refugees out of every ten, leaving large numbers of them suffering from a lack of access to shelter, water, and basic health care.

Dire conditions inside the camps

The two UN agencies warned that the conditions inside the shelter camps are still very critical. About 80,000 families are currently living without shelter due to lack of funding, and in some locations refugees are forced to live on less than half of the minimum amount of water needed per person per day.

Health centers are stretched beyond capacity, vital protection services for survivors of sexual and gender-based violence are being reduced, and education services are overburdened, with classrooms in most locations crammed with more than 100 children per teacher.

Meanwhile, more than 243,000 people remain stranded in the eastern border areas due to insufficient funding to transfer them to shelter camps located in the interior of the country. There, families are forced to sleep in the open or inside makeshift shelters, where disease, insecurity and harsh weather conditions pose constant threats to their lives.

In this context, Patrice Ahouansou, UNHCR representative in Chad, said: “What we are currently witnessing in eastern Chad represents the human cost of funding shortfalls. We concluded 2025 with about a third of the resources needed to fully respond to the refugee crisis in the east. Given the gravity of the current situation, without urgent donor support, this year will see deeper cuts, worse conditions, and greater suffering for families who have fled war.”

Resorting to destructive coping strategies

The World Food Program explained that it is severely affected by the lack of funding, as it only has less than half of the resources it needs. The agency provides food aid to more than a million people in areas hosting refugees, but has already been forced to cut this support in half for most refugees.

Sarah Gordon-Gibson, World Food Programme’s country director in Chad, confirmed that “WFP remains committed to combating food insecurity in Chad in the short and long term. But with less than half the required resources, we cannot provide enough food to the people who need it most. This will force them to resort to destructive coping strategies and put their lives at risk.”

The two UN agencies expressed their gratitude to all donors for their generous support so far. They urgently called on donors to mobilize funding for the next six months to ensure the continuation of aid. They stressed the need for Chad’s continued openness to be accompanied by a decisive international sharing of responsibility now, before the situation deteriorates further.