The United Nations, its humanitarian partners, and the Chadian government launched the 2026 Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) in N'Djamena, Chad's capital, on Friday, with the goal of supporting millions of people across the country. The plan requests US$986 million, including $540 million for refugees, to assist 3.4 million of the most vulnerable people in Chad.
Chad continues to face one of the most severe humanitarian crises in the Sahel region. This crisis is driven by regional conflict, large-scale displacement, armed violence, climate shocks, food insecurity, malnutrition, and deadly disease outbreaks. The country is currently home to over 2 million displaced people, including more than 1.5 million refugees, as well as hundreds of thousands of internally displaced persons (IDPs) and returnees.
According to the HRP, approximately 4.5 million people — one out of every five Chadians — urgently require life-saving assistance this year. However, this decrease of more than 40 percent compared to last year's figure of 7 million people in need does not reflect an improvement in the humanitarian situation. Rather, it is due to the adoption of methods focused on people and areas most affected by severe shocks.
Recent cuts to humanitarian aid funding by the United States and leading European donor governments, particularly Germany, have further aggravated the situation. Only 29 percent of the 2025 Humanitarian Response Plan for Chad received funding. This forced aid agencies to refocus their efforts on life-saving interventions, leaving millions stranded without support.
Due to the global collapse in humanitarian funding, aid organizations must focus on the most urgent life-saving priorities in the hardest-hit regions, including eastern Chad, Lake Province,. Of the $986 million requested for 2026, $619.7 million are highly prioritized to address the needs of 1.9 million people.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) stresses that the underlying crisis remains just as severe. This year's HRP reflects only a fraction of the suffering by aligning figures with available financial resources and sharper prioritization. Meanwhile, the underlying pressures on affected Chadian and refugee communities remain intense and have not diminished.
Chad is heavily impacted by recurrent attacks by non-state armed groups in the Lake Chad area, repeated climate shocks such as floods, droughts, and locust invasions, and particularly by the war in neighboring Sudan.
The Saharan nation is currently hosting approximately 910,000 Sudanese refugees who escaped the conflict that began in Sudan in April 2023. Overall, Chad is providing refuge to more than 1.5 million people, making it one of the largest host countries for refugees worldwide. Additionally, approximately 225,000 Chadians have been internally displaced and require humanitarian assistance.
Despite the ongoing insecurity, severe movement restrictions, and significant protection risks along the main escape routes out of Sudan that continue to hinder safe passage, the influx of people, including more than 344,000 Chadian returnees, continues.
The Sahel nation's long-standing food insecurity has been exacerbated by the forced displacement of populations due to community conflicts and the activities of armed groups in the Lac and Sud provinces. Meanwhile, health emergencies are fueled by chronic malnutrition and lack of access to safe water.
Since mid-July, a cholera epidemic has spread through the provinces of Ouaddaï, Sila, Guéra, and Hadjer-Lamis, and it is now spreading toward the central and western provinces, causing an alarming number of fatalities. This health crisis comes on top of the continuing influx of refugees and returnees from Sudan and the deterioration of food security.
An estimated 1.9 million people in Chad are severely food insecure, with children, pregnant women, and breastfeeding women being the most vulnerable. During the 2026 lean season, from June to August, this figure is expected to rise to nearly 3 million.
Furthermore, an estimated 1.8 million children under five suffer from acute malnutrition, including over 700,000 suffering from severe acute malnutrition (SAM).
The effects of climate change have further exacerbated the crisis. In 2024, floods affected nearly 2 million people, destroying homes, crops, and livestock. In 2025, more than 400,000 people were impacted, and over 91,000 hectares of farmland were inundated, resulting in significant losses in agricultural production.
On a positive note, OCHA reports that the Chadian government has made sustained efforts in recent years to mitigate vulnerabilities, reduce shocks, and strengthen community resilience, as evidenced by increased life expectancy and expanded coverage of water, hygiene, and sanitation (WASH) services.
In recent weeks, aid agencies such as Médecins Sans Frontières have urged the Chadian government to collaborate more closely with humanitarian and development organizations to address the root causes of malnutrition and food insecurity in the long term.
As of December 2025, approximately 210 humanitarian organizations and initiatives were operational in Chad, of which the majority were national non-governmental organizations. In 2025, aid agencies reached some 2 million people with at least one form of humanitarian aid.