Chad

Mine Ban Policy

The Republic of Chad signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 6 July 1998, ratified on 6 May 1999, and became a State Party on 1 November 1999. On 28 July 2006 the National Assembly of Chad adopted a law implementing the Mine Ban Treaty at the national level. Law Number 28/PR/2006 of 23 August 2006 was promulgated by Presidential Decree Number 28/PR/2006 on 26 August 2006.^[1]

Chad submitted its annual Article 7 transparency report on 1 April 2007, covering calendar year 2006. Chad also submitted a report on 1 September 2006, covering calendar year 2005. It had submitted five previous reports.^[2]

Chad attended the Seventh Meeting of States Parties in Geneva in September 2006, where it made a statement on cooperation and assistance and provided updates on mine clearance and victim assistance. Chad participated in the intersessional Standing Committee meetings in May 2006 and April 2007. During the April meetings Chad made statements on victim assistance and progress toward meeting its 2009 mine clearance deadline.

Chad has not engaged in the discussions that States Parties have had on matters of interpretation and implementation related to Articles 1, 2 and 3. However, in July 2006, Chad sent a letter to Landmine Monitor stating that, with regard to Article 1, “we will reject any rules of engagement permitting use of antipersonnel mines and will refuse to order them as well. We will also reject participation in any joint operation if our military forces derive any military benefit from use of antipersonnel mines and we will not provide security or transportation of antipersonnel mines.”^[3] Chad has still not made known its views on issues related to foreign stockpiling and transit of antipersonnel mines, antivehicle mines with sensitive fuzes or antihandling devices, and the permissible number of mines retained for training.

Chad is not a party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons.

Production, Transfer, Stockpiling and Use

Chad is not known to have produced or exported antipersonnel mines. Chad completed destruction of its stockpile of 4,490 antipersonnel mines in January 2003. It destroyed another 1,365 newly discovered stockpiled mines from 2003 to early 2005.^[4] Chad reported destruction of an additional 42 landmines in 2005 which were newly discovered in a container abandoned by the Libyan army.^[5] No additional stockpiles were discovered in 2006.^[6] In all of its Article 7 reports Chad has reported that it does not retain any antipersonnel mines for training purposes.

Landmine Monitor is not aware of any allegations of use of antipersonnel mines by government or rebel forces during this reporting period.^[7] Landmine Monitor has previously reported sporadic mine use by different rebel groups active within the country. Armed conflict resumed in eastern Chad in late September 2006 and intensified from late November and into early 2007,pitting the armed forces against several shifting opposition alliances, mainly in and around the towns of Abéché, Biltine and Guéréda but also in Adre, Ade, Tine, Am and Timam.^[8] However, Landmine Monitor has received no reports of the use, transfer or possession of antipersonnel mines by non-state armed groups in Chad during the reporting period.

The Chadian government and United Front for Change signed a peace accord in December 2006.^[9] There is no landmine-specific prohibition in the accord, which stipulates integration of the rebel forces into the national forces. Former combatants will be bound by the Mine Ban Treaty prohibitions upon integration into the national army.

Landmine and ERW Problem

Chad is contaminated by mines and explosive remnants of war (ERW), both unexploded ordnance (UXO) and abandoned explosive ordnance, from 30 years of internal conflict and the 1973 Libyan invasion when a small group of Libyans attacked the town of Aouzou (Tibesti) and the first mines were laid. The majority of the mines deployed during this time were laid during the Aouzou strip occupation by Libyan forces.^[10]

Ninety percent of the now known mined areas are located in the Borkou-Ennedi-Tibesti region in the north. The 1999-2001 Landmine Impact Survey (LIS) identified 249 mine-affected communities, covering an area of more than 1,000 square kilometers.^[11] The LIS found that mine contamination directly interferes with the livelihood and safety of more than 280,000 Chadians, blocking access to water, pasture and agricultural land, roads and trails.^[12] Tibesti was not included in the survey because of security concerns; initial findings from a limited survey suggested that the mine and UXO contamination is heavy.^[13]

There is a generalized unexploded ordnance (UXO) problem across the country, including in N’Djamena after a rebel attack in April 2006.^[14] Several locations are contaminated with cluster submunitions. Submunitions and/or their containers have been found in the Borkou-Ennedi-Tibesti region, Biltine region (northeastern Chad) and east of N’Djamena.^[15]

Chad estimated that at the end of 2006 some 670 square kilometers remained to be demined. This estimate will be significantly reduced by technical survey.^[16]

Mine Action Program

Until 2007, there was no interministerial body managing mine action in Chad. However, on 28 June 2007 a decree was signed by the President to reorganize the National Demining Office (Haut Commissariat National de Déminage, HCND) into two elements, a national authority (referred to as a steering committee) with the HCND functioning as a mine action center.^[17] The decree has assigned regulatory, policy and resource mobilization functions—including the financing of demining from national oil revenues—to the Steering Committee as well as the responsibility to oversee HCND.^[18] Previously, all coordination and management were effectively carried out by HCND, with support from a UN Development Programme (UNDP) chief technical advisor (CTA).

Following the departure of Mines Advisory Group (MAG) in early 2007, a new tender was launched by UNOPS and MineTech International was selected to supervise two HCND EOD teams for battle area clearance operations in the east of Chad.^[19] HCND also has responsibility for quality control. HCND prioritizes clearance and survey mainly according to impact scoring in the LIS, the discovery of new minefields and the arrival of refugees, internally displaced as well as recent survivors.^[20] In 2006 through mid-January 2007 the operational cost of the three HCND EOD teams supervised by MAG was funded through MAG by the US Department of State.^[21]

Landmine Monitor Report 2006 gave details of the severe funding problems and other disruptions which affected HCND and demining operations. Staffing at HCND remained unstable as of June 2007; HCND’s coordinator, having changed in 2005, changed again in 2006 and in 2007; there were numerous other staff changes. The coordinator in charge of HCND made many organizational changes that were said to be outside the recommendations made following a UN assessment in 2005.^[22]

In February 2007 the UN Secretary-General proposed an 11,000-strong UN peacekeeping mission to eastern Chad and the Central African Republic to protect civilians and deter cross-border attacks.^[23] As part of an advanced mission, MiNUTAC and the UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS) planned to set up a mine action center in Abéché and deploy an emergency survey and explosive ordnance disposal capacity to ensure safe deployment of MiNUTAC. The MiNUTAC mine action center was intended to liaise and coordinate with HCND to avoid duplication of efforts and to develop cooperation.^[24]

Standing operating procedures (SOPs) are agreed upon and Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) signed between any operator and the HCND for the duration of each contractual period.^[25] MAG developed its own SOPs for Chad, which were subsequently accepted by HCND. These were reviewed in July 2006 in line with normal operating procedures to ensure that any lessons learnt from the accident suffered by MAG in 2006 were incorporated.^[26]

Strategic Mine Action Planning

The 2002 and 2005 versions of the National Strategic Plan to Fight Mines and UXO included the objectives “zero victims” and “no impact” by 2009. The strategy has since been amended to reflect program developments and the terms of the Mine Ban Treaty, and now aims for “a country free of mines.”^[27]

Although there is currently no international or government funding for mine action in Chad, the government had set a goal (pending a peace agreement for Tibesti) of clearing all known high and medium priority areas by the end of 2008.^[28]

For 2007—and assuming a peace agreement—the national strategy included as objectives a countrywide technical survey of contaminated areas as a continuation and expansion of the technical survey initiated by MAG, including Tibesti, which would then necessitate a new subregional mine action office in Zouarké and Yebi Bou.^[29]

Evaluations of Mine Action

In 2005, a UN assessment found that management and financial problems jeopardized implementation of the Chadian mine action program.^[30] From November 2006 to January 2007 a national audit was conducted following a request from the President to the Ministry of Moralization to conduct an audit. The national audit arrived at the same general conclusions as the UN assessment and subsequently led to the suspension of HCND’s coordinator.^[31] As of April 2007 no program or management decisions had been implemented by the authorities in charge of HCND to address either appraisal.^[32]

Demining

Mines Advisory Group was the main mine action operator in Chad in 2006; HCND also conducted limited demining operations. MAG ceased operations in December 2006 and left the country in January 2007.^[33]

From January to February 2006 two HCND teams were deployed to Zouarké and Yebi Bou in Tibesti to reopen access roads and to survey some mined areas. From July to August, one HCND team was deployed to reopen an access road to the north of Gouro.^[34]

From March to December 2006 MAG carried out the third and final phase of a multi-year survey and clearance project funded by the US Department of State, with a focus on clearing water points and access to them, addressing cache impacts and conducting marking where appropriate.^[35] This saw the completion of high priority EOD tasks in Borkou and Ennedi and the expansion of demining for the first time within the mine action program into Tibesti.^[36]

Identification and Marking of Affected Areas

During Phase 3 of its project MAG visited 22 areas in Borkou province, marking nine dangerous areas, and visited 49 areas in Tibesti province, marking six dangerous areas. MAG also extended survey to Wour, where it identified 10 dangerous areas.^[37] A total of 9,299,131 square meters were surveyed.^[38]

For demarcation, MAG used stones painted white and red. The total marked area in 2006 was estimated at 5.2 square kilometers.^[39] In general, marking the location of mines and ERW is said to be difficult because of the shift of the locations of mines and ordnance due to rainfall and drifting sands occasionally rendering them outside of the demarcations.^[40]

Mine/ERW Clearance

From March to December 2006 MAG carried out mine and battle area clearance in Borkou province and in the Tibesti region. In Zouarké, 21 areas were cleared of UXO; in Borkou operations continued around Faya Largeau, Bedo and Kaorchi, with clearance of the road from Faya Largeau to Koro Toro—which had been closed since 1987 following the withdrawal of Libyan troops; 14 areas were cleared of UXO. All water points listed as contaminated in the LIS, and determined to be high priority, were rendered accessible to the population. A total of 1,089 munitions were destroyed and 67,683 square meters cleared.^[41]

In April and May 2006, after the rebel attack on N’Djamena, a battle area clearance operation was conducted in N’Djamena by three MAG explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) teams using HCND staff as well as by an army platoon. The MAG teams completed 11 battle area clearance tasks and nine EOD responses in N’Djamena.^[42] UNDP launched a tender in September 2006 for further clearance of contaminated areas of N’Djamena and eastern Chad; in April 2007 MineTech won the tender and started battle area clearance with two HCND EOD teams in mid-May 2007.  By the end of June, three towns (Biltine, Adré and Guéréda) and surrounding areas had been cleared.^[43]

In 2006 a total of 158,000 square meters of mined areas and almost 2.29 square kilometers of battle areas were cleared, with the destruction of 263 antipersonnel mines, 75 antivehicle mines and 7,978 UXO. No quality assurance activities were reported for 2006.^[44]

Two serious demining accidents occurred in 2006. In July 2006 a MAG vehicle detonated an antivehicle mine. Four deminers were killed and two, a driver and the team leader, were injured.^[45] A board of inquiry was set up by HCND, although the conclusions are contested by MAG.^[46]

In August 2006 an HCND car returning from operational field work in Gouro also detonated an antivehicle mine. Five people were killed (four HCND deminers and one local guide) and three HCND deminers and one UNDP driver were injured. HCND deminers are uninsured, but the Chadian government allocated roughly US$10,000 to the families of each deminer killed in accidents in 2006. As a result of the August incident, mines collected for destruction were abandoned in a cave by the team, and as of April 2007 had not been recovered.^[47] According to the UNDP Chief Technical Advisor, a formal investigation of the accident was conducted by a board of HCND including the CTA.^[48] The results of this inquiry have not been made public.

UNDP reported instances of village demining and marking of dangerous areas. In a village near Am Zoer, after a man was killed by UXO, another villager collected UXO in the area and buried them to prevent other casualties. There is also anecdotal evidence that in other villages local authorities have paid others to put thorn branches around areas known to be mined or affected by UXO, to deny access to children and animals.^[49]

Summary of Efforts to Comply with Article 5

Under Article 5 of the Mine Ban Treaty, Chad is required to destroy all antipersonnel mines in mined areas under its jurisdiction or control as soon as possible, but no later than 1 November 2009. At the 2007 Standing Committee meetings, Chad declared that although clearance of less than 10 square kilometers of the original LIS estimate of 1,081 square kilometers “might appear derisory, it actually corresponded to area reduction of around 57 percent of the total,” namely 616.5 square kilometers of low, medium and high-impact areas.^[50] But still limited survey information, slow progress in clearance and a lack of international or national funding for mine action indicate that Chad will not meet its Article 5 deadline.

In April 2007 Chad declared that its new deadline for completion of clearance will be determined following technical survey of the remaining 670 square kilometers of suspected hazardous areas.^[51]

Mine Risk Education

In 2006 mine risk education (MRE) for the Chadian population and Sudanese refugees in Chad continued to be organized by HCND in high-risk areas in eastern Chad as well as in the capital, N’Djamena. Approximately 285,000 people received MRE and 1,680 community leaders were trained. This is a considerable increase compared to 2005 (110,000 people reached). HCND, supported by the Chadian Ministry of Education, was the only operator, with financial and technical assistance from UNDP and UNICEF, as in previous years.^[53]

The most at-risk groups are children, especially boys, and young men in affected regions. Intentional risk-taking behavior includes young men grazing cattle and tampering with UXO, children collecting ammunition to make jewellery and amulets, adults selling UXO for scrap metal or removing UXO to create household yards. Some risk-taking behaviors are unintentional, such as children playing with UXO. Also, in newly affected areas people have not received MRE.^[54]

In 2006 and with financial support from Canada through UNICEF, HCND employed two MRE teams and trained volunteers to carry out MRE projects. Special materials were used, including images and texts written in French and Arabic. In 2006 Chad received $250,000 from Canada and the UK for MRE. UNICEF reported that roughly 40 MRE sessions were organized in 2006 by HCND for refugees in Ere, Iridimi, Touloum, Iriba, Amleyouna, Bredjing, Treguine, Farchana, Gaga, Goz Bagar and Goudiang, reaching approximately 7,000 participants. UNICEF also conducted a one-day training session for 874 future teachers.^[55]

After the escalation of violence in 2006, MRE priorities were adapted to include N’Djamena while continuing in previously affected areas. In April 2006 HCND with the support of UNICEF undertook an MRE program for teachers and children of primary and secondary schools in N’Djamena. Leaflets were distributed in N’Djamena and other cities in the east involved in the conflict and MRE radio messages in French, Arabic and local languages were broadcast by four national radio stations.^[56]

From 15 November to 7 December 2006 HCND conducted MRE in Abéché and Iriba cities, and in Iridimi and Touloum refugee camps in eastern Chad: 385 local people, 355 Sudanese refugees and 30 humanitarian workers received MRE.^[57] UNICEF produced MRE materials for distribution in schools, refugee camps and host communities (177,000 leaflets in Arabic and French and 106,000 booklets with mine and UXO images).^[58]

UNDP reported that clearance operations near settlements were preceded by MRE to collect information about contamination and casualties, and were followed by MRE informing people of the areas cleared and what to do in case of new mine/UXO discoveries.^[59]

In 2007 HCND deployed three MRE teams, one in the south and two in northern Chad. HCND reported that an important achievement had been including MRE in Chad’s school curriculum. Training material was produced in 2006, for implementation in mid-2007. Monitoring and evaluation of the program will be carried out with UNICEF support.^[60]

At the Standing Committee meetings in April 2007 Chad summarized the increased MRE efforts made in 2006-2007.^[61] Nevertheless, rising insecurity in Chad, with increasing numbers of refugees and displaced Chadians, and the new UXO contamination, demand greater provision of both preventive and emergency MRE.

Landmine/ERW Casualties

In 2006, HCND reported at least 139 new mine/ERW casualties, including 41 killed and 98 injured. This is nearly a fourfold increase from 2005 (35 casualties). The increase was due mainly to escalating conflict between government and opposition groups in Chad and the deteriorating situation on the eastern border with Darfur, Sudan.^[62] On 13 April alone there were 34 casualties due to ERW from the hostilities. Casualties have been increasing continuously since 2003; this can partly be explained by improved data collection.^[63]

In 2006 the majority of casualties were male (75 adult men and 50 boys); there were three women and 11 girls. Most (103) were civilians, 21 were military and 15 were deminers. Mines caused 37 casualties and ERW caused 102. The most common activities at the time of the incident were tampering, playing, traveling, collecting scrap metal and herding. Most incidents occurred in N’Djamena (48), followed by Zouarké in Tibesti region (24), Abéché in eastern Chad (10), Gouro in Borkou-Ennedi-Tibesti region (9), Massaguet in western Haraze al-Biar region (8) and Guereda in eastern Chad (5). An additional four casualties were reported but not included in HCND records as no details of gender, age, incident location and status were available.^[64]

Casualties continued to be reported at an increased rate in 2007, with 141 casualties from January to June (30 killed and 111 injured). The vast majority of casualties were children (119), mainly boys (93). Adult men accounted for 20 casualties and women for two. Reportedly, all the incidents were caused by ERW. All but one of the casualties was civilian. One additional casualty was reported but not recorded in HCND totals, as no incident or personal details were available.^[65]

Data Collection

There is no nationwide casualty data collection in Chad, and casualties are likely to be unreported due to Chad’s size and inhospitable terrain. Casualty data is collected by HCND through its regional offices and inserted in a database. HCND has the Information Management System for Mine Action (IMSMA).  Although Switzerland provided an international IMSMA specialist until April 2007, fatal casualties are under-reported and accurate reporting of new casualties is affected by limited access to incident locations. HCND casualty information does not distinguish between different types of ERW. According to UNDP, the activity at the time of the incident is recorded; however, this information was not provided to Landmine Monitor.^[66] Although casualty data collection improved in 2006, the government appealed for an international consultant to improve data collection and entry and make it nationwide.^[67]

The cumulative number of mine/ERW casualties in Chad is not known. Until June 2007, HCND recorded approximately 2,800 mine/ERW casualties.^[68]

The Landmine Impact Survey identified 1,686 mine/ERW casualties (824 killed, 862 injured) from January 1998 to May 2001, however, it has been found that some of the casualties entered by HCND after the LIS was concluded may be duplicates.^[69]

Survivor Assistance

There are few programs assisting people with disabilities in Chad.^[70] Healthcare and rehabilitation services are limited, of poor quality and suffer from lack of qualified staff, equipment and unequal geographical distribution.^[71] In 2006 the health services were increasingly strained due to the escalation of violence and a growing number of displaced people and refugees from Sudan. Hospitals in N’Djamena and in the border areas with Sudan were unable to cope with the influx of patients.^[72] Access to health services was further limited by a succession of strikes for better wages in 2006 and 2007, which led to hospitals closing down temporarily.^[73] In January 2007 conflict-injured military personnel occupied a road in front of the military hospital in N’Djamena to demand better medical care.^[74] The population has very limited access to public services, including health facilities, and has to seek treatment at private clinics which are unaffordable for most people.^[75]

Access to healthcare for mine casualties depends on the location of the incident. Serious cases are transferred to the military hospital in N’Djamena, but transfers are slow due to a lack of emergency transport and the poor state of the roads.^[76]

Rehabilitation services remain limited, with only two centers; costs are very high and most hospitals in N’Djamena do not have orthopedic equipment. There is a lack of physiotherapists and none work in mine-affected areas. Access to psychosocial support, vocational training and economic reintegration is extremely limited, as are employment opportunities for people with disabilities.^[77]

Chad has legislation protecting the rights of people with disabilities and creating the Special Direction for the Reintegration of People with Disabilities. Children with disabilities or with disabled parents have access to free education. Survivor and disability benefits are regulated by law. In September 2006 Chad reported that a bill aiming to improve the living conditions of people with disabilities, including mine survivors, was under discussion in parliament.^[78] As of July 2007 Chad had not signed the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. A national Day of People with Disabilities is organized every year on 7 February by the government, in conjunction with NGOs, to raise awareness of persons with disabilities.^[79]

Progress in Meeting VA24 Survivor Assistance Objectives

Chad is one of 24 States Parties identified at the First Review Conference in Nairobi in November-December 2004 as having significant numbers of mine survivors and “the greatest responsibility to act, but also the greatest needs and expectations for assistance” in providing adequate services for the care, rehabilitation and reintegration of survivors.^[80]

Chad did not present its 2005-2009 objectives to the Sixth Meeting of States Parties in September 2005, the Seventh Meeting in November 2006, or the April 2007 Standing Committee meetings. However, throughout 2006 and 2007 it stated that “it takes the assistance to mine victims seriously.”^[81] Chad recognized it had made limited progress in survivor assistance but said that the development of SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound) objectives and implementation of an action plan were dependent on funding. None of the goals in the 2006 action plan appear to have been achieved.^[82] In April 2007 Chad described plans for survivor assistance activities for 2007 which include medical and physical rehabilitation follow-up, the production and replacement of mobility devices, psychosocial support, creation of health insurance to give social protection to mine survivors, and support to associations working with people with disabilities. Chad again appealed for financial support and funds to recruit a consultant to develop a national plan for survivor assistance but no funding for survivor assistance had been received.^[83]

Chad’s 2007 Article 7 report included casualty information on the voluntary Form J but no information on survivor assistance.

Survivor Assistance Strategic Framework

Chad’s National Strategic Plan to Fight Landmines and UXO, revised in 2005, aimed to achieve “zero victims” by 2009.^[84] But as of June 2007 there was no survivor assistance framework in place, mainly due to lack of funding and national capacity. UNDP indicated that an international consultant is needed to draft a national plan for survivor assistance.^[85] The Ministry of Social Action and Family is responsible for disability issues.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) provided medical treatment to 435 weapon-injured people (91 mine/ERW survivors) and provided physical rehabilitation to 1,670 people (155 survivors) in 2006.^[86] Information from other implementers was not available.

Medicins Sans Frontières (MSF) works in eastern and southern Chad. In 2006, it provided medical and surgical aid in Abéché, Adré, Irba and Dodgoré in eastern Chad. It opened a temporary health center in Koukou, eastern Chad, treating some 200 patients and provided emergency assistance to the hospital in Goré, southwestern Chad.^[87]

ICRC increased its operations in 2006 due to the expanding conflict. Three hospitals were supported; the Military Teaching Hospital, the main referral hospital for surgery, received emergency medical supplies, beds and tents, and nine doctors from the Cuban medical mission in Chad were transferred to the hospital to reinforce capacity; Abéché Hospital and the Liberty Hospital received emergency medical supplies to treat war-injured people. In October 2006 an ICRC surgical team provided emergency surgical assistance to the local medical facility in Bahai, eastern Chad. ICRC also organized two seminars on war surgery to establish a medical contingency plan for emergencies, and first-aid courses for health personnel in eastern Chad. Its surgical team supported a war-surgery training program at the Liberty Hospital in N’Djamena.^[88]

ICRC provided material and components to the Kabalaye Orthopedic and Rehabilitation Center in N’Djamena, as well as covering treatment costs. It set up a referral system for conflict casualties from the east (some 50 people were referred for physical rehabilitation). A similar referral plan for the north was postponed for security reasons. The N’Djamena center received additional financial support from UNDP and the US Embassy.^[89]

The Chadian Red Cross worked closely with the ICRC to provide medical care, evacuate injured people to medical facilities and support the Abéché hospital and the Military Teaching Hospital in N’Djamena.^[90]

Other organizations involved in mine/ERW survivor assistance in Chad include Our Lady of Peace Rehabilitation Center, the NGOs EIRENE (International Christian Service for Peace), Physiotherapists of the World and Terre Sans Frontières.^[91] There are several associations of people with disabilities in Chad.^[92]

Funding and Assistance

Landmine Monitor identified international funding of $2,384,274 (€1,897,854) for mine action in Chad in 2006, double the funding in 2005 ($1,169,000). As in 2005, the United States was the main state donor.

• France: €6,586 ($8,274) for training of Chadian demining personnel in Benin;^[93]
• US: $2,376,000 (€1,891,268) consisting of $1,780,000 from the Department of State and $596,000 from the Department of Defense.^[94]

The 2006 end-year review of the UN’s Portfolio of Mine Action Projects reported that Chad received 13 percent ($736,567) of funds requested through the appeal process, consisting of contributions from the government of Chad and UNDP.^[95] No projects for Chad were included in the initial 2007 Portfolio of Mine Action Projects, however, UNMAS listed appeals totaling $7,756,084 in its online database of projects, of which only $1,000 had been covered as of July 2007.^[96]

National Contribution to Mine Action

In 2004 the Chadian government committed to provide a dollar-for-dollar match for all UNDP funds during 2004 and 2005. However, the government did not match funds in 2005, which led UNDP to decide that further financial support would be provided after funds are disbursed by the government.^[97]

At the First Review Conference of the Mine Ban Treaty in 2004 Chad called for mine action budgets of some $6.8 million in 2006 and $7 million in 2007, of which $2 million each year was to be national funding. However, in 2006 the government provided contributions in January, March and August totaling CFA Francs 165 million (around $300,000). UNDP in Chad then resumed its support, contributing $100,000, with $320,000 from UNDP’s Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery, for battle area clearance in N’Djamena and eastern Chad. ^[98]

The Chadian government informed UNDP in December 2006 that its contribution in 2007 would be $1.5 million.^[99] By July 2007 the government had contributed $300,000, UNDP $200,000 and Canada $40,000.^[100] However, Chad claimed at the April Standing Committee meetings that it was contributing $1 million per year to the mine action program.^[101]

In April 2006 Chad was reported to be in discussions with the World Bank to obtain funding for mine action through income from Chadian oil revenues.^[102] In July 2006 Chad and the World Bank signed a memorandum of understanding on distribution of oil income, based on a commitment by Chad to devote 70 percent of its budgetary expenditure to poverty reduction programs; mine action is part of this agreement.^[103]