Chad is a former French colony in Central Africa that gained its independence in 1960. With a life expectancy of 47.7 years, Chad has been marred by decades of civil war as well as invasions until some semblance of peace was finally achieved in 1990, although there have continued to be rebel insurrections to the present day. Chad is a country where even aid agencies fear to work, with aid workers subject to being taken hostage by bandits, and regular suspension of aid work programs occur due to the severe danger to staff there. Despite being three times the size of California, Chad has a population of just over 10m and just 300 square miles of irrigated land with just 2.8% of the entire country being arable.

Unlike other African countries, Chad is seen to offer little to the outside world, with its poor transport infrastructure including 33,400km of roads of which just 267km are paved. Chad also is off putting to visitors because of its high cost of living. Child trafficking for sexual and other exploitation remains a major concern about Chad. Many children are taken for domestic servitude and other forms of labour both in Chad and to other neighbouring nations, and there is also evidence of commercial sexual exploitation of children from Cameroon and the Central African Republic being taken into Chad.

Lake Chad, after which the country takes its name, is a large shallow inland lake, just thirty-four feet at its deepest point and just under five feet on average. The lake is essential to maintain water supplies to the population, however it has shrunk by an estimated 95% since 1975, a worrying development for a people who rely upon it for their very survival.

Agriculture is the main economy of Chad, although oil is now becoming an export. The country is heavily reliant of foreign aid for survival. N’Djaména is the capital of Chad, and has a population of just under one million. The city becomes almost totally waterlogged each summer. For facts about child sponsorship in Chad please click here.