Remarks by UNFPA Executive Director Dr. Natalia Kanem at United Nations Correspondent Press Briefing, UN Headquarters, New York

Thank you, Stéphane, for the invitation to speak today. It’s true, I’m just back from Chad.
 
And there, I met with President Mahamat Idriss Déby and the Prime Minister Saleh Kebzabo. We discussed progress on the sustainable development goals and the very real challenges facing women and girls in their country.
 
And why Chad? I went there because it risks becoming a forgotten priority, and we shouldn’t let that happen.
 
Chad today faces multiple challenges, and a humanitarian emergency. Instability, violence in neighbouring countries, and the disproportionate impact of a climate crisis - not of its own making - not to mention socio-economic and other development challenges.
 
Despite being one of the poorest countries in the world, Chad now hosts more than a million refugees, including newly, some half a million who fled the conflict in Sudan over the past six months, most, women and children.
 
More than 40 percent of the population – around 7.6 million people – are in need of humanitarian assistance.
 
However, the $921 million appeal for humanitarian operations to respond to identified needs, has met only with a quarter response, only 26% has been met. So, more support is urgently needed for essential needs.
 
Today, around one in 17 people in Chad is a refugee, according to the United Nations refugee agency.
 
And with women and children in need of urgent aid, the Government of Chad, with support from the international community, is doing its best to provide the basics of support.
 
Pertinent to UNFPA, many of the women are victims of gender-based violence, in the countries that they fled, and/ or in the camps where they are now living.
 
In my visit to a UNFPA-run ‘one-stop’ centre for violence survivors in Moundou in the south of Chad on Friday, I spoke to girls and young women who shared heartbreaking stories of pain and suffering.
 
One 13-year-old girl told me about the assault that she suffered at the hands of a neighbour. Luckily, her parents believed her and took her to the centre, which is one of eight in the country. There she and other survivors are receiving medical, and psychosocial support, as well as referrals for legal services, and dignity kits, and of course a safe space where they can feel supported and protected – and it's all in a complex under one roof.
                   
Since we opened that centre in June, already we have treated more than 30 cases of gender-based violence, including physical and intimate partner violence, sexual violence and rape. Tragically, one counselor told me, now they see that it is the youngest girls who are reporting the instances of rape.
 
And my own experience as a doctor tells me that these cases represent the tip of the iceberg, because typically people will not come forward and report. 
 
UNFPA, as the lead agency for the coordination of the gender-based violence response in emergencies, is working to prevent violence and also if it happens to restore agency and power to survivors, and we do this through effective, integrated and coordinated programming and life-saving services.
 
Again and again, everywhere in the world, we are seeing women and girls forced to confront the worst of wars that they did not start. And what they need is peace, peace in their homes and communities.
 
The events from the Middle East over the past month and in Sudan over the past 6 months show just how fragile peace is, how easily it can be shattered and how devastating this is for the most vulnerable, particularly women and children.
 
Stopping the cycle of conflict is possible. And that will be hastened when women have a voice and a choice. When women are economically empowered; and when women and young people participate in security and justice systems.
 
I’ll end by informing you that during my visit, in meeting with women leaders who are deeply committed to strengthening the participation of women in peace and prosperity processes towards building a better future for Chad. They tell me that they want to leave a path for their daughters to follow.
 
At this fraught moment in human history, it is clear that the fate of humanity does not belong in the hands of men wielding bombs. Indeed, it rests with women and allies standing together waging peace.
 
I left that country with a sense of what’s possible. For UNFPA programs assisting the Government to improve quality of life, resilience  - and even in the face of adversity - I saw our personnel, the noble midwives, the doctors, the nurses, the psychosocial counselors, other health workers, the civil society, trying to change the fate for women and girls.  

I felt very touched in speaking to that 13-year-old who did manage a small smile at the end of our conversation over fifteen or twenty minutes, when I asked her about school. And she said, yes, that she’s determined to continue her education and she wants to keep working, so that she can have a better future. 

I call on the international community to increase financial and humanitarian support to this country and others in the region and to respond not just to immediate events but also to lay the foundations for sustainable development so that the women, girls and all the people can reach their full potential.