Panel Weighs Crisis in Chad

Three influential humanitarians urged members of the Harvard community yesterday evening to increase their awareness of the crisis in Chad, which has been escalating since rebel forces first tried to overthrow the president in April 2006.

The Harvard Humanitarian Initiative (HHI)—a University-wide program supporting the practice of humanitarian response worldwide—organized the event to educate students about the recent crisis in Chad and its relation to the ongoing military conflict in Darfur.

The panel featured HHI Fellow Alex W. de Waal; Heinz J. Henghuber, a former head of Doctors without Borders; and UNICEF emergency coordinator Sherazade Boualia.

Chad, which neighbors Darfur to the west, resumed fighting in February when rebels attempted to overthrow President Idriss Déby, who has ruled Chad as a dictator since 1990. While the attempt did not succeed at ousting the government, violence has not abated and has affected many civilians.

“The people in Chad are reeling from the fact that the basic services in Chad are so poor,” said Boualia, who has been responsible for the coordination of UNICEF’s emergency response to situations in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East.

De Waal said that despite the continued violence, there has been no attempt from other countries to establish political stability in Chad. The European Union approved a peacekeeping force in January to try to quell the fighting.

But, according to de Waal, “I think it’s impossible for that kind of force to make any progress without there being a political process.”

The conflict and refugees both in Darfur and in Chad have spilled over their respective borders, exacerbating the turmoil.

“The crises are now so entangled that, if you want a solution in one, you have to have a solution in the other,” said de Waal, who had advised the African Union mediation team for the Darfur conflict and has written several books about the crisis.

Henghuber also noted that the conflict has been complicated by violence in the Central African Republic (CAR), which neighbors Chad and Darfur to the south.

“There are connections, as what’s happening in Chad and what’s happening in Darfur is an aggravation of the situation in CAR, as there are some spillovers,” said Henghuber, who is currently a graduate student at the Harvard School of Public Health.

While the conflict continues in Africa, de Waal said he hoped for students to promote awareness of Chad as they have been doing for Darfur over the past few years.

“What the last few years have shown with regard to Darfur is that college students, and particularly Harvard students, have been incredibly influential in putting together grassroots activism,” de Waal said.