Chad’s refugee crisis overwhelms maternity care in east, UN agency warns

The crisis is unfolding as Chad struggles to cope with a massive influx of refugees and returnees fleeing the civil war in neighbouring Sudan, placing enormous pressure on already stretched services in the country’s east.

“Chad is currently hosting more than 1.3 million refugees and returnees, most of them women and children” Andrew Saberton, UNFPA Deputy Executive Director, told journalists at UN Headquarters, in New York, following a recent mission to eastern Chad.

During visits to refugee camps and health facilities in Abéché, Adré and Wadi Fira, Mr. Saberton described overstretched clinics struggling to cope with rising demand.

In Iridimi refugee camp, midwives told him they manage up to 300 births every month with minimal equipment, limited medicines and almost no specialist support.

Health workers also described women having to undergo emergency caesarean sections without adequate pain relief. “No woman should have to endure that,” Mr. Saberton said.

Growing risks for women and girls

The humanitarian situation has been compounded by growing protection risks for women and girls. Many women are forced to travel farther from camps to collect firewood, exposing them to harassment, assault and gender-based violence.

Despite the challenges, Mr. Saberton praised local women’s centres supported by UNFPA, which provide psychosocial care, vocational training and support for survivors of violence.

Further north in Wadi Fira province, authorities report more than 333,000 refugees spread across some 81,000 households, with women and children making up more than 75 per cent of the population.

Refugees continue arriving from Sudan through multiple border entry points as insecurity and violence there persist.

Funding shortfalls threaten response

Mr. Saberton warned that recent funding cuts are now threatening lifesaving services across Chad.

UNFPA’s activities in the country are facing a 44 per cent funding reduction this year, while only 2.5 per cent of the agency’s 2026 humanitarian appeal for Chad has been funded so far.

“The Government of Chad has shown extraordinary solidarity by keeping its borders open and sharing its already scarce resources with people fleeing violence,” Mr. Saberton said. “That solidarity must now be matched by international support.”