A severe cholera outbreak has been declared in the Ouaddaï and Sila provinces of Chad, compounding the strain caused by the influx of nearly 877,000 Sudanese refugees, widespread flooding, and escalating food insecurity. The outbreak, with a fatality rate of 6.2%, has disproportionately affected women and young people, while floods have destroyed over 432,000 hectares of crops, leaving 3.7 million people at risk of food shortages and malnutrition. Refugee camps report alarming levels of gender-based violence (GBV), underscoring the urgent need for protection and health services.
In response, UNFPA has scaled up sexual and reproductive health (SRH) interventions, distributing 22 reproductive health kits to 17 facilities, deploying 138 humanitarian midwives, and supporting more than 46,000 people with maternal care, deliveries, family planning, and STI management. Additional midwives and kits were mobilized to ensure cholera response efforts did not compromise obstetric care. On GBV, UNFPA reached over 21,000 people through prevention, response, and risk mitigation, including support to women-led organizations and safe spaces, as well as targeted protection activities in refugee camps. Coordination efforts are ongoing to strengthen both SRH and GBV systems amid overlapping crises.
Despite these efforts, UNFPA’s ability to deliver life-saving services is severely hampered by funding shortfalls. Of the US$27 million required for 2025, only US$2.5 million has been secured, leaving a gap of US$25.2 million. Without urgent donor support, millions of women and girls remain at heightened risk, and the combined impact of disease, displacement, and food insecurity will continue to jeopardize lives and strain already fragile systems.
