Tuesday, October 17, 2017

Chad's Misery

There are few places in the world more impoverished than Chad.  It ranks 186 out of 188 countries on the UN's most recent Human Development Index, which compares wealth, health, and key indicators across the world. And within Chad, the Lake Region is one of the poorest of all. It is a place where only 10 doctors are currently working. One fisherman, Ibrahim, said 10 years ago the people around Lake Chad "lived like kings" with a ready supply of fish, vegetables, and goats.

In Chad, 350,000 people are in danger of starvation due to failing food supplies, losing their animals, their lands and crops, and being unable to carry out activities like fishing.

The massive movements of people and difficulties in growing crops or distributing aid have left more than 8 million people on the brink of starvation.

Life expectancy in Chad is a dismal 52 years. Average per capita income last year was less than $2,000

Eight years ago, Boko Haram militants crossed the border from Nigeria and launched their first attacks in Chad, in the Lake Region. They plundered entire villages, murdered civilians and forced thousands to flee, in a jihadist war that still rages today. The war by Boko Haram has ruined the lives of millions of people across the lake region that stretches across the borders of Chad, Cameroon, Niger, and Nigeria. Tens of thousands of refugees fleeing Boko Haram have ended up in camps where they are entirely reliant on aid to survive. Those who survived the jihadists' attacks face daily, grinding hunger. 

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