“Everything I own is under water”
The climate crisis hits home in Chad
Malo Gaga, N’Djamena, Chad.
All photos © UNFPA/Karel Prinsloo
17 December 2024
Since July 2024, extensive and recurrent flooding has affected every single one of Chad’s 23 provinces, as heavy rains have caused the 1,400-kilometre-long Chari River – which flows through much of southern Chad – to repeatedly overflow.
More than 2 million people have been impacted, with over 13,000 people displaced from their homes and approximately 1 million women and girls in need of sexual and reproductive health services.
UNFPA, the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency, met with people whose homes on the banks of the river in Chad’s capital, N’Djamena, have been completely submerged. Close by, at a camp for the displaced in the Toukra area of the city, we see what life is like for some of the 4,000 people staying there amid the climate crisis.
An aerial view of Gloria’s compound after the Chari River flooded N’Djamena.
Villagers use straw to rebuild a road that was engulfed by floodwaters.
A displacement camp runs alongside the overflowing river.
UNFPA has deployed 248 midwives across Chad. Patricia Neimoi holds a newborn she delivered.
Midwife Florence Denemadji conducts outreach. “We are well trained for emergencies,” she said.
Maimduna Saratou, 22, safely gave birth to her son during the crisis, supported by UNFPA midwives.
Gloria disembarks from a pirogue not far from the Toukra camp.
A displaced woman bathes her child at the camp.
Carrying out household chores. The mother’s T-shirt reads: “Be strong, be fearless, be you.”
Aerial view of the Toukra district of N’Djamena.
UNFPA midwives outside a camp clinic.
A baby born at the camp grips the thumb of a midwife.
Chanceline Milamem's baby is 6 weeks old. Finding enough to eat is a pressing concern.
Collecting drinking water. Despite being surrounded by floodwaters, clean water is in short supply.
A moment of calm. Maimduna sits with her newborn looking out from her tent.
In addition to supporting people displaced internally by the flooding, Chad is hosting over 1 million refugees from Sudan – including 700,000 people who have fled the country’s conflict. Crises like these increase risks of rape and gender-based violence, unmet contraceptive needs, unintended pregnancies and preventable maternal deaths.
An aerial view of the Adre refugee camp in eastern Chad, on the border with Sudan.
Rihabe Mahamot, who is 9 months pregnant, receives a check-up from a UNFPA midwife at Adre camp.
UNFPA-trained midwives are saving lives in Chad. But due to severe underfunding, the need for services outweighs the supply, leaving thousands of women and girls without access to sexual and reproductive health care and protection services.
UNFPA’s response in Chad – as well as all of its core work – must be fully funded so that the agency and its partners can continue to provide women and girls with essential supplies and services, especially amid the worst of crisis and disaster.
