N’DJAMENA, Oct 12 (NNN-AFRICANEWS) — All of Chad’s 23 provinces have been impacted by intense floods brought on by severe rainfall.
Over 550 people have died, and 210,000 homes have been washed away.
The rainy season usually runs until October.
Around 432,000 hectares of land and 72,000 livestock destroyed.
This comes as the country declared a food security and nutrition emergency in February.
Of the approximately 1.9 million people affected in the country, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) says 85,000 are estimated to be pregnant women.
Families are now sheltering in makeshift sites and schools, left without access to health services, clean drinking water, sanitation and hygiene, as diseases – diarrhea, malaria, respiratory and skin infections – could rise.
UNFPA is on the ground, supporting the Ministry of Public Health and Prevention to provide reproductive health and protection services and hygiene supplies to affected people. Some 248 humanitarian midwives have been deployed to provide maternal healthcare services.
Protection risks have also increased for women and girls in temporary sites, where they have little to no privacy, and when they venture outside to look for food and firewood in an unfamiliar environment.
Widespread flooding across the West and Central African Region has triggered crisis for close to two million people with devastating consequences. — NNN-AFRICANEWS
