PREVIEW
The UN has called for funding to tackle climate change, as France and US court the central African state to be a partner in tackling Islamic terrorism
Several months of severe flooding in Chad have intensified the humanitarian crisis facing the central African country, which finds itself struggling to cope with a refugee crisis and being among the states most vulnerable to climate change.
The flooding has claimed 503 lives and destroyed more than 200,000 homes since July, the United Nations said on 21 September.
The UN has called for immediate action and funding to tackle climate change.
Chad is already struggling to cope with the spillover effects of the civil war in neighbouring Sudan. It had been hosting over one million displaced people even before the recent escalation of violence between the Rapid Support Forces and Sudan Armed Forces. More than 500,000 Sudanese people had been driven into Chad according to international aid agencies.
Chad has been listed as the second most vulnerable country to climate change in the world. The UN Environment Programme estimates that Lake Chad has shrunk by 90% since 1963 because of reduced rainfall. However, along with drought, that makes the lake vulnerable to extreme rainfall.
At the same time, western states are now eyeing Chad as a priority partner in central Africa as they seek to maintain their influence in the region and tackle Islamic terrorism (AC Vol 64 No 5, Border troubles threaten the region & Vol 64 No 23, Presidents Mahamat Kaka and Macron meet on security threats). Having been forced to abandon their military bases in the Sahel, France and the United States are among a group who are actively courting President Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno ‘Kaka’ to set up bases in Chad.
On 20 September, after reaching an agreement with Kaka, the US Pentagon confirmed that Special Forces troops would be returning to Chad.
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