Refugees International Peacebuilding Advocate Erin Weir and Advocate Mpako Foaleng will be traveling to Chad to conduct an assessment of the humanitarian situation for Chadian internally displaced people and Sudanese refugees, as well as an assessment of the civilian protection roles of the UN peacekeeping force, MINURCAT, and the EU mission in Chad. The RI team will conduct interviews with relevant officials in N’Djamena before traveling to eastern Chad where they will focus on high-displacement areas.

As the violent instability persists in eastern Chad and the Darfur region of Sudan - including attacks on communities and humanitarian workers - the international community and Chadian authorities are faced with the challenge of assisting over 400,000 displaced.

Tensions between Chad and Sudan have recently resulted in Sudan’s decision to sever diplomatic ties with Chad, which in turn closed its border with Sudan. Such moves in the past have led to incursions and attacks on both sides of the border, forcing civilians to flee their villages, and making the delivery of assistance even more challenging.

The purpose of this mission is to examine how the international agencies have been able to assist internally displaced people and refugees in an extremely difficult context. RI will assess efforts to meet protection and assistance needs. In particular, this mission will examine coordination of the international response as well as efforts to find longer term solutions for the displaced. The RI team will also seek to understand the nature and extent of the security threats faced by civilians, and the extent to which MINURCAT and EUFOR deployments have enhanced the security of the civilian population

The assessment in Chad will begin June 1st and end on June 28th.

The mission will focus on the following issues:

• Evaluate the humanitarian situation and assess UN and NGO progress in meeting protection and assistance needs of the internally displaced people and refugees in eastern Chad and identify key constraints.
• Evaluate the nature the security threats faced by the civilian population, and the ability of the European and UN peacekeeping forces to effectively respond to and mitigate those threats.