• Send page
  • Print page

The ICRC in Chad

23-08-2013 Overview

The ICRC has been present in Chad since 1978. It maintains a dialogue with the civilian and military authorities on humanitarian principles and on the protection of civilians and detainees. The ICRC also gives financial, material and technical support to physical rehabilitation centres, works closely with the Red Cross of Chad and helps displaced people in Tissi, eastern Chad.

After several years of unrest, Chad regained a certain degree of stability in 2009, which has enabled the country to return to normality and to start tackling the many structural challenges hindering its development. Turbulence in neighbouring Libya, Sudan, the Central African Republic and Nigeria threatens to disrupt this delicate balance, however, sometimes spilling over into Chad and weakening an already fragile situation.

Assisting detainees and restoring family links

In Chad, the ICRC visits and monitors people deprived of their liberty, checking that their treatment and conditions of detention are acceptable. It also plays a crucial role in restoring contact between refugees, displaced people, migrants, and their families.

Treating the wounded

The ICRC strives to ensure that all victims of violence, whether civilian or military, can access the medical attention they need. To this end, it cooperates with the authorities to perform emergency operations and treat the war-wounded at Abéché regional hospital.

A nurse educator from the ICRC trains nursing students and advises their tutors on aspects of the practical and theoretical courses that they run at the regional hospital, with a focus on war wounds and other surgical emergencies. The ICRC also provides the hospital with training materials and other items, including books.

Supporting physical-rehabilitation centres

The ICRC gives financial, material and technical support to the Kabalaye limb-fitting and rehabilitation centre and to the Maison Notre-Dame de Paix in Moundou. In particular, it covers the cost of artificial limbs for mine victims.

Preventing violations of international humanitarian law

Within the broader framework of its humanitarian mission to protect the lives and dignity of people affected by armed violence, the ICRC endeavours to promote respect for international humanitarian law. In Chad, it engages in dialogue with a range of groups – including the national armed forces, gendarmerie, police, Integrated Security Detachment and joint Chadian-Sudanese border force – within military schools and training centres, and through its operations teams in the field.

The ICRC also holds regular meetings with the political authorities, traditional leaders and the media. It addresses students at the national school of administration and magistrature, at the universities of N'Djamena and Abéché and at the private Roi Fayçal university, in the capital city.

When necessary, the ICRC gives legal advice and technical support to the Chadian government to help incorporate instruments of humanitarian law into national legislation.

Cooperating with the Red Cross of Chad

The ICRC works closely with the Red Cross of Chad, providing technical and financial support in certain areas of common interest, in keeping with the principle of cooperation within the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement.


Photos

Two patients with gunshot wounds have just been operated on with the help of the ICRC surgical team, in the hospital operating theatre in Abéché, eastern Chad. 

An "ordinary" day in the hospital operating theatre in Abéché, the main city in eastern Chad, where two patients with gunshot wounds have just been operated on with the help of the ICRC surgical team.
© ICRC / M. Ngardobe Nodjingue / td-e-00610