UNITED NATIONS, May 10 (Xinhua) -- Host to 500,000 refugees from neighboring Sudan, Chad needs food security and nutrition aid for one-third of its own 18 million population, UN humanitarians said on Friday.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said the situation across the nation is being exacerbated by climate change, insecurity and the rise in food and fuel prices.
"Since March, the country is also facing torrential rains and floods in the south," OCHA said, adding that the refugees have significantly strained the humanitarian situation in the east of the country, and attacks by non-state armed groups in the Lake Chad Basin are driving further displacement.
The UN agency said that a UN-backed analysis found that 2.4 million people are currently food insecure in the country, 300,000 of whom are severely food insecure. If no substantive assistance is provided, this number could grow during the lean season to 3.3 million.
It said the 1.1 billion U.S. dollar Chad Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan for 2024 is just 6.6 percent funded, with nearly 74 million dollars received.
The UN's emergency relief coordinator, Martin Griffiths, has already allocated 15 million U.S. dollars from the world body's Central Emergency Response Fund as part of a larger allocation in February to support underfunded emergencies. ■
