With a population of 8.1 million, Chad is one of the world’s least-developed and poorest countries. It ranks 167th out of 177 on the 2004 Human Development Index of the United Nations Development Programme; 46 percent of the population live below the poverty line, especially in rural areas.

The 2007–2010 country programme reflects WFP’s and the Government’s priorities on education, food security and health/nutrition and takes account of the country’s assimilative capacity. Its objectives, which correspond to Strategic Objectives 2, 3 and 4 of WFP’s Strategic Plan (2006–2009) are as follows:

• improved access to basic education, especially on the part of girls, and to functional literacy courses for adults;
• improved productive assets for vulnerable households with a view to improving their food security;
• improved nutritional and health status of vulnerable groups and especially people living with HIV/AIDS, pregnant and lactating mothers and children under 5.

The country programme will help achieve four of the principal objectives of the Government’s poverty-reduction strategy: 

• improve human resources through support to education and health; 
• achieve sustainable increases in agricultural production;
• improve the livelihoods of vulnerable groups;
• help to restore and safeguard ecosystems.

The 2007–2010 country programme takes account of the last Common Country Assessment and of the various priority areas identified then, particularly the first two: improved access to basic social assets and services and improved physical and economic environment.

The country programme corresponds to the priorities of the 2006–2010 United Nations Development Assistance Framework and focuses on the following four intervention areas:

• improvement of human capital; 
• restoration and safeguard of ecosystems;
• management of crises and emergencies;
• fighting HIV/AIDS.

In line with the Board’s decision 1999/EB.A/2, WFP’s development activities will centre on five objectives. The present country programme addresses three: contribute to the promotion of education and to satisfying the nutritional needs of vulnerable groups; make it possible for poor families to gain and preserve assets and  contribute to mitigating the effects of natural disasters.

The components will focus on adult literacy and on the promotion of access to basic education, especially for women and girls, and on improving the nutritional and health status of pregnant women and malnourished children aged between 6 months and 5 years. They will also enable rural populations to secure sustainable means of subsistence and to reduce their vulnerability to natural disasters and food insecurity.

Countries

Chad

Chad is a low-income, food-deficit country, ranked  170th out of 177 countries in the 2008 UNDP Human Development Index. Chad has in the past six years hosted  around 255,000 refugees from Sudan ’s Darfur region and close to 77,000 refugees from the Central African Republic and 188,000 Chadians have been displaced b...