30-01-2025 | di COOPI

Chad. An integrated intervention for child protection and refugee support

From March 2024 to January 2025, COOPI - Cooperazione Internazionale and UNICEF implemented the project ‘Immediate and Urgent Response for Children Affected by the Sudanese Crisis’, an initiative aimed at providing protection, psychological assistance and education to refugee and repatriated children. After months of intensive field work, the project is now drawing to a close, leaving a significant legacy in terms of child protection and strengthening local communities.

Instability in neighbouring countries, in particular the conflict in Sudan that erupted on 15 April 2023, has pushed more than 580,000 people to seek refuge in Chad, exacerbating an already precarious situation. At the eastern entry points (Sila, Ouaddaï, Wadi Fira and East Ennedi), access to essential services such as water, shelter, healthcare and education has been extremely limited. In this context, COOPI and UNICEF worked to ensure an integrated response, providing protection to the most vulnerable children and supporting refugee and returnee populations.

The intervention ensured the creation of Child Friendly Spaces, where children were able to find a safe environment, protection and a sense of normality despite the ongoing crisis. The capacities of local communities in managing protection risks for children were strengthened, with a focus on violence, exploitation and separation from families. A team of youth workers and psychologists provided psychosocial support to vulnerable children and survivors of gender-based violence. At the same time, 60 Transitional Reception Families were trained to provide appropriate care for refugee and returnee children, with a focus on unaccompanied or separated children. To strengthen the community response, new community facilitators were selected and trained, while local authorities received technical training to improve child protection services.

As the project draws to a close, COOPI continues to work to ensure that the skills acquired and structures created can be sustained over time.

At the national level, the organisation maintained an ongoing dialogue with the Directorate General of Children of the Ministry of Gender and National Solidarity to ensure the sustainability of the interventions.

Although the project is coming to an end, the impact of the activities will continue to be felt in the communities involved. COOPI's commitment to child protection does not stop here: the work done represents a starting point for future initiatives to ensure security, stability and opportunities for growth for children affected by the crisis.

COOPI has been working in Chad since 1976, adopting a multi-sectoral approach. In the regions of Lac and N'Djamena, it provides emergency education to displaced children and local communities, offers psychosocial support to trauma victims and promotes peace building, with a focus on women's empowerment, gender-based violence and discrimination, and conflict prevention.