Chad: Insecurity leaves thousands at risk of waterborne disease, aid workers say
| Publisher | IRIN |
| Publication Date | 10 December 2008 |
| Cite as | IRIN, Chad: Insecurity leaves thousands at risk of waterborne disease, aid workers say, 10 December 2008, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/49422f42c.html [accessed 22 May 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
N'DJAMENA, 10 December 2008 (IRIN) - Diarrhoea and other deadly waterborne illnesses threaten some 28,000 Chadians in an eastern town, after armed attacks - including the theft of a water pump - forced out the last aid workers running already scaled-down operations.
UN aid officials fear that people will begin to flee the area - Dogdore - if aid operations do not resume there soon, thus further complicating humanitarian efforts in Chad's volatile east. About 24,500 displaced Chadians live in Dogdore, along with some 4,000 local residents, according to the UN.
Aid groups suspended most activities in Dogdore in October after a string of armed attacks. The last remaining aid workers, with the group Action Against Hunger (ACF), pulled out in late November after three attacks in five days, Eric de Monval, head of ACF in Chad, told IRIN. "We felt we had no choice" given the continued insecurity, he said.
Armed bandits on 21 November stole a motorised water pump that was serving some 70 percent of the population, Fatma Diouf Samoura, UN deputy humanitarian coordinator for eastern Chad, told IRIN from the region's main town Abeche.
"There are some drilled wells and traditional wells in the area but they are not sufficient for the number of people," she said. ACF has been planning to build more water pumps in Dogdore, according to de Monval, who said the group is monitoring the situation and hopes to return soon.
UN officials told IRIN the latest information they have is that many people in Dogdore have been forced to turn to unsafe water. "People are digging [makeshift] wells into the wadis [riverbeds]," said David Cibonga, head of OCHA in Abeche. "We are sure that if humanitarian organisations cannot start work again soon we will have cases of waterborne disease and perhaps even child deaths."
Médecins Sans Frontières-France (MSF) is among the aid groups that suspended assistance in Dogdore in October. "There is no longer a minimum of security to allow for humanitarian operations there," Frédéric Emirian of MSF-France in Chad told IRIN. "MSF is worried about a possible deterioration of the humanitarian situation [in Dogdore] ? especially in water and sanitation."
UN humanitarian officials said it is critical that aid groups be able to resume assistance to people in Dogdore. "We fear that the people there will move to other sites where aid agencies are already stretched," the UN's Samoura told IRIN.
UN humanitarian officials said they have appealed to local and national authorities to improve security in the area. "The authorities know about the problem and they say they're considering a response," OCHA's Cibonga told IRIN.
During a recent trip to eastern Chad UN Emergency Relief Coordinator John Holmes expressed concern about continued insecurity in the Dogdore area.
Armed attacks have long hampered aid efforts in eastern Chad, where according to the UN some 263,000 Sudanese refugees and 180,000 Chadian displaced live, largely dependent on aid agencies for health care and food assistance.
In 2008 more than 160 attacks on humanitarian workers - including four murders - have been reported in Chad, according to the UN.
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