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CHAD: Women and Girls at Risk as They Flee Violence

New York

The Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children calls on the international community to protect women, children and young people as they flee the violence in N'Djamena, the capital of Chad. Almost half the population of the city (300,000 of 700,000 people) is reported to have fled the violence that erupted on February 1 when rebels attacked, in an attempt to oust President Idriss Déby. They have crossed into Cameroon and are said to be living in local schools and under trees, with little access to food or shelter.

During mass movements of populations and in the ensuing chaos, women and girls are at risk of rape and other sexual violence. "Aid agencies, the United Nations and others must be sure to implement standard protection measures and provide services and care for survivors of rape and sexual violence, including measures to prevent pregnancy or the transmission of HIV/AIDS which can result from rape," said Sandra Krause, director of the Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children's reproductive health program. "This must be a priority from the very start of the emergency."

Chad is also host to nearly a quarter of a million refugees from Darfur in neighboring Sudan, and tens of thousands of refugees from the Central African Republic. Almost 200,000 Chadians have been displaced within Chad by earlier fighting which as spilled into Chad from Darfur. These refugees and internally displaced people rely on international aid, which is in jeopardy with the recent fighting.

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