Following a week-long assessment in eastern Chad, Andrew Saberton, Deputy Executive Director of the United Nations agency focused on reproductive and sexual health (UNFPA), described the situation as both “encouraging and deeply alarming.”

Neighboring Sudan conflict’s impact

During his visit to Abéché, Adré in Ouaddaï province, and the Iridimi refugee camp—over 1,000 kilometers from the capital N’Djamena—he witnessed firsthand how the conflict in neighboring Sudan has affected women and girls seeking refuge in Chad.

In Adré, near the Sudanese border, he toured an UNFPA-supported center where refugee women shared harrowing accounts of violence they face when venturing outside camps to gather firewood.

The act of collecting firewood has become a perilous endeavor, fraught with risks of harassment, assault, and sexual violence, Saberton noted, highlighting testimonies from women in other camps.

Despite these challenges, he praised the resilience of women supported by these centers, who receive psychosocial care, vocational training, and income-generating opportunities.

In Abéché, Saberton met a young survivor of obstetric fistula, married at just 15 years old. After enduring three days of labor without medical assistance during her first pregnancy, her baby did not survive, and her husband abandoned her. She lived with this severe complication for nearly a decade before recently receiving treatment.

“She continues to face pressure to remarry,” he expressed with concern.

Constrained resources

In Wadi Fira province, home to the Iridimi camp, healthcare facilities struggle to meet the relentless influx of refugees. Local authorities report over 333,000 refugees spread across eight camps.

At the camp’s health center, midwives handle up to 300 deliveries monthly with severely limited resources. Medical staff reveal that shortages of anesthetics sometimes prevent safe cesarean sections.

“No woman should endure a cesarean section without anesthesia,” Saberton emphasized.

The UN official also highlighted the impact of reduced humanitarian funding. The UNFPA office in Chad faces a 44% drop in resources this year compared to 2025. Of the $18.7 million requested for 2026 to sustain maternal health services and protection programs, only 2.5% has been funded to date.

With Chad already recording one of the world’s highest maternal mortality rates—approximately 860 deaths per 100,000 live births—the agency urges the international community to urgently bolster support.

“For the women and girls we met in eastern Chad, assistance means safe childbirth, care after violence, and a chance to survive,” Saberton concluded.