The Humanitarian Challenge in the Failed State of Chad

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Recently, in the country of Chad, flooding has created a humanitarian disaster. Rising water levels have affected around 700,000 people in October alone, up from the projected 445,000 in September. Twenty deaths have been reported thus far in 16 of the 22 affected regions in the country, and 30,000 people have been forced to flee their homes. The disaster has exacerbated already growing issues of food insecurity, with 45% of the country experiencing strains, and cases of acute malnutrition in children jumping from 59,000 in 2010 to almost 100,000 in 2012. Combined with the discovery of locusts invading agricultural areas has created the need for a $3 million UN emergency fund to aid the people effected by the disaster.

            

The plight of the people of Chad has only been hindered by the corruption and inefficiencies of their government. Out of 177 countries surveyed in the Fund for Peace’s rankings of the top failed states in the world, Chad ranked 4^th. The country’s government, which has gone through several coups over the past few decades, has been corrupt, unstable, and has resulted in an unstable country that is unable to respond to humanitarian needs created by disasters such as the current flooding. President Idriss Déby, who overthrew the government in 1990, has set up a system under the guise of a democracy. The country has a constitution that establishes divisions of power in the government with a popularly elected executive, popularly elected legislature, and a judiciary. The true face of the system is more apparent when one notices that opposition leaders are detained, the freedom of the press is restricted, Déby has no term limits and almost total control in the country, corruption is rampant, elections results are regularly disputed, and the country has never seen a smooth transition of power. The fact that Chad is one of the most failed states in the world is a direct result of this misuse of power in the government. Instead of taking step to create measures that would help the impoverished population of the country, the people in charge have been too busy manipulating the system so that they can appear progressive to the rest of the world, and thereby acquire the international funding that goes to progressive governments.

            

If the current administration does not address the current disaster expediently, unrest in the country could develop quickly. Money needs to be redirected from government corruption into new housing projects and funding for the growing medical expenses in the hardest hit regions. Larger scale future reforms also need to be undertaken such as steps to enact a truly democratic system that is accountable to the people. The president should have limits to his regional powers such as term limits, and opposition should not be hindered to compete for a role in government. Déby should look towards countries like Botswana, which have built a strong infrastructure off of an educational system and democratic government that is responsive to the needs of the people. Being a country rich in oil resources, Chad should not have trouble finding a way to support its own people in time of crisis. With better governance and redirection of national funds towards sectors that would help build up the country, Chad could possibly one day avoid such large scale humanitarian disasters, but unfortunately at the present they are a long way off from that goal. 

Article: http://allafrica.com/stories/201210260754.html?viewall=1

Other Sources: http://www.fundforpeace.org/global/?q=fsi

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4118482.stm

http://www.freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2012/chad

Picture: http://redskynews.com/?p=4677