Funding shortfalls put lifelines at risk for Sudanese refugees in Chad

9 April, 2026, N’Djamena – More than a million Sudanese refugees in Chad face immediate and life-threatening cuts to food, water, shelter, protection and health care, two leading UN humanitarian agencies warned today as the conflict in neighbouring Sudan approaches the three-year mark.

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) say that essential assistance to refugees in Chad will be drastically scaled back even further in the coming months unless a US$428 million shortfall - $289 million and $139 million for each agency, respectively - is met.

Chad is on the front line of the Sudan crisis and hosts 1.3 million Sudanese refugees, with over 900,000 of those arriving since the start of the war in 2023. One in thirteen people in Chad is a refugee; in the east, it is one in three. The Government of Chad has kept its borders open to refugees throughout the Sudan conflict and host communities continue to receive new arrivals, including nearly 15,000 since January 2026, despite the immense strain on resources.

Current resources at UNHCR allow basic assistance for only four out of every ten refugees, leaving many with scant access to shelter, water and basic health care. Conditions in settlements remain critical. Some 80,000 families are currently without shelter due to funding shortfalls and in some locations like Oure Cassoni in Ennedi Est Province, refugees are surviving on less than half the minimum amount of water needed each day. Health centres are overstretched, critical protection services for survivors of sexual and gender-based violence are being scaled back, and education services are overwhelmed, with classrooms in most locations holding more than 100 children per teacher.

Meanwhile, more than 243,000 people remain in eastern border areas due to insufficient funding to relocate them to settlements further inland. Here, families are forced to sleep in the open or in rudimentary shelters where disease, insecurity and harsh weather are constant threats.

“What we are seeing in eastern Chad is the human cost of funding shortfalls,” said Patrice Ahouansou, UNHCR Representative in Chad. “We ended 2025 with only around one-third of the resources needed to fully respond to the refugee emergency in the east. Given how dire the situation already is, without urgent support from donors, this year will bring deeper cuts, worse conditions and even greater suffering for families who have already fled war.”

WFP is equally impacted by lack of funds, with less than half the resources it needs. The agency reaches over a million people in refugee-hosting areas with food assistance, but has already been forced to cut this support in half for the majority of refugees. Women and young children are feeling the impact first and hardest, with nutrition support provided to new arrivals under pressure.

While WFP and UNHCR are also investing in durable solutions such as resilience, inclusion and social protection to transition people away from needing humanitarian aid, emergency assistance remains a vital lifeline – and is under imminent threat.

“WFP remains committed to fighting food insecurity in Chad in both the short and long term. But with less than half the resources we require, we cannot deliver sufficient food to the people who need it most,” said WFP Chad Country Director and Representative Sarah Gordon-Gibson. “This will force them into devastating coping strategies and put lives at risk.”

UNHCR and WFP are grateful for all donors’ support and generosity thus far. They urgently call on donors to mobilize funding for the next six months to sustain assistance. Chad’s continued openness must be matched by decisive international responsibility-sharing now, before the situation deteriorates further.

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For more information, please contact:

UNHCR Chad: Hélène Caux, [email protected], WhatsApp + 235 85 15 81 34

Helen Ngoh, [email protected], WhatsApp +235 86 29 67 97

WFP Chad: Gemma Snowdon, [email protected], WhatsApp +39 347 382 3210