Education and Gender Biased

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Dont Forget Us:The Education and Gender-Based Violence Protection Needs

of Adolescent Girls from Darfur in Chad

Womens Commission for Refugee Women and Children

July 2005

W O M E N SC O M M I S S I O

for refugee women & chil


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W O M E N S

C O M M I S S I O N

for refugee women & children

wWomens Commission for Refugee Women and Children122 East 42nd StreetNew York, NY 10168-1289

tel. 212.551.3088fax. [email protected]

July 2005 by Womens Commissionfor Refugee Women and ChildrenAll rights reserved.Printed in the United States of America

ISBN: 1-58030-C39-1

M i s s i o n S t a t e m e n t

The Womens Commission for Refugee Women and Children works to improve the lives and defend the rights ofrefugee and internally displaced women, children and adolescents. We advocate for their inclusion andparticipation in programs of humanitarian assistance and protection. We provide technical expertise and policyadvice to donors and organizations that work with refugees and the displaced. We make recommendations to poli-cy makers based on rigorous research and information gathered on fact-finding missions. We join with refugeewomen, children, and adolescents to ensure that their voices are heard from the community level tothe highest levels of governments and international organizations. We do this in the conviction that their empower-

ment is the surest route to the greater well-being of all forcibly displaced people.

A c k n o w l e d g m e n t s

The Womens Commission for Refugee Women and Children would like to thank the staff of the United NationsHigh Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) for all their help during the mission. Special thanks goes to DjerassemMbaiorem, Carolina del Campo, Aida Albina and many others at the UNHCR office Abeche.

We are extremely grateful to the many refugees with whom we met for sharing their difficult stories and experi-ences, and to staff from NGOs and UN agencies working in Chad who took the time to talk with us and tell uswhat they had learned. We are deeply indebted to Suleman Hari, our translator extraordinaire, whose wise mindand good heart were invaluable.

The report was written by Lori Heninger and Megan McKenna, and edited by Diana Quick, director of communi-cations. We thank Tonya Rodgers and Katherine Joy Palmer for their assistance.

The mission was made possible by the generous support of the Ford Foundation.

Photographs by Megan McKenna.

A s s e s s m e n t t e a m

Lori Heninger, senior coordinator, Children and Adolescent Program, Womens Commission for Refugee Womenand Children

Megan McKenna, senior coordinator, Media and Communications, Womens Commission for Refugee Women andChildren


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Dont Forget Us:The Education and Gender-Based Violence Protection Needs

of Adolescent Girls from Darfur in Chad

Womens Commission for Refugee Women and Children

July 2005


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Acronyms i

Map of Chad ii

Purpose of Mission 1

Executive Summary 1

Background on the Sudan/Chad Situation 3

Adolescent Girls 7

Adolescent Girls and Gender-based Violence 9

Adolescent Girls and Education 12

Additional Findings 22

Appendix I: Education in Sudan and Chad 26

Appendix II: Brief Histories of the Conflictsin Sudan and Chad 28

Appendix III: Darfur-Chad Bibliography 30

Endnotes 35

C O N T E N T S


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CF Chadian franc

CNAR Chad National Commission for Refugee Assistance

CORD Christian Outreach, Relief and Development

DFID UK Department for International Development

GBV Gender-based violence

HIAS Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society

ICRC International Committee of the Red Cross

IFRC International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent

IMC International Medical Corps

INGO International nongovernmental organization

IOM International Organization for Migration

IRC International Rescue Committee

JEM Justice and Equality Movement

MSF Mdecins Sans Frontires (Doctors Without Borders)

NGO Nongovernmental organization

SLA Sudan Liberation Army

SLM Sudan Liberation Movement

UNFPA UN Population Fund

UNHCR United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

UNICEF United Nations Children Fund

UNJLC UN Joint Logistics Center

UNOCHA UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

UNOHCHR UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights

UNSC UN Security Council

USAID US Agency for International Development

WFP World Food Program

WHO World Health Organization

i

ACRONYMS


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MAP OF CHAD

ii


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More than 220,000 Sudanese from Darfur havefled the ongoing violence in their region andcrossed the border into the desert of eastern Chad.

Most of the refugees are now in camps; however,at the time of the Womens Commission visit,several thousand remained on the border or onthe periphery of some camps, waiting to be regis-tered. The conditions are bleak: water is in veryshort supply and except for the southernmostcamps, it is nearly impossible to farm or otherwiseearn a living. With no resolution to the Darfurcrisis in sight and violence continuing, it isestimated that between 50,000 and 100,000refugees might flee to eastern Chad in 2005.1

A D O L E S C E N T G I R L S

In Darfur, the concept of adolescence as adevelopmental stage does not exist. Females areconsidered girls until they menstruate, at whichpoint they become women; however, this does notmean that females between the ages of 11 and 18experience life in the camps in the same way asthose 18 years old and above. While many of the

girls in the 11-18 year age group share most of thesame duties as their mothers, one major differenceis that many of the girls are in school for the very

first time. This is an opportunity they would nothave had in Darfur and which their mothers neverhad.2

E D U C A T I O N

At the time of the Womens Commissions visit, all11 refugee camps had education programs. Inmost camps this included primary grades 1-6,some adult literacy classes, and some preschool.In more than half of the camps, refugees who had

education experience as teachers and administra-tors in Darfur started schools in the camps priorto the arrival of the humanitarian community.

While education is widespread, a significantnumber of the refugees face numerous challenges.UNICEF took the lead on education, but theirpresence at the time of the Womens Commissionvisit was sorely lacking in the camps, as wasacknowledged by UNICEFs sub-office in Abeche.At that time, UNICEF had not provided adequate

Dont Forget Us

PURPOSE OF MISSION

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The Womens Commission for Refugee Womenand Children visited 10 of the 11 refugee camps ineastern Chad in January 2005 as part of a nearlythree-week mission to examine the protectionof adolescent girls, with a particular focus oneducation and reproductive health in the camps.Two filmmakers accompanied the WomensCommission for a part of the mission, which wasfunded by the Ford Foundation. As in manyrefugee situations, each camp had differentcharacteristics, strengths and weaknesses. Giventime constraints, staff of the Womens Commission

were not able to systematically assess theeducation and reproductive health situation of

adolescent girls, but tried as much as possible toask the same questions in each camp about thelives of adolescent girls, education and reproduc-tive health. In some camps, staff were able tospeak with educators, in others with womensgroups, and in still others with healthcarepersonnel; when there was more time, staff wasable to meet with more than one group.

The report begins with background information,then moves to chapters on adolescent girls, educa-tion and reproductive health, as well as additional

information about the situation in Chad. Eachchapter contains recommendations for action.


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shelters for schools, school supplies or guidance toteachers or camp management. A number of con-tingencies, including a lack of funding and the dif-ficulty of the conditions in Chad, many of themout of UNICEFs control, seem to be to blame.

Another major problem are the incentives givento teachers by the United Nations HighCommissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), whichwere seen as inadequate by the large majority ofteachers. School headmasters reported losingteachers who left their jobs to make more moneyin other ways, such as selling firewood. The fewwomen teachers in the camps teach only the low-est grades. Young people who have completedgrade eight have no opportunities for education orskills training.

G E N D E R - B A S E D V I O L E N C EThousands of girls and women have been rapedand/or beaten in Darfur and in Chad. In mostcamps the Womens Commission visited, therewere reports of women who had been raped bythe members of the janjaweed militia. Some ofthese rapes have resulted in pregnancy. Pregnancydue to rape is an extremely complicated issue; it isculturally unacceptable to be pregnant outside ofmarriage, and to be carrying a child fathered bythe enemy compounds the problem dramatical-ly. Health staff reported that women pregnant as a

result of rape did not report the rape due to thesocial stigma attached. There were some reportsof women abandoning babies of the janjaweed;however, in other camps programs were beingdeveloped with refugee communities to integrateand support mothers and their children born as aresult of rape.

In Chad refugee girls and women are sometimesbeaten and raped when they are collecting fire-wood. They must walk for hours to get firewood;in some areas, attacks on girls collecting firewood

by host communities are frequent. In addition tocompetition for scarce firewood, local communitiesresent the basic services the refugees receive, whichthey lack. Women and girls in four camps reportedbeing beaten when collecting wood, and rapeswere reported in two camps; the perpetrators werereported to be local people. At the time of theWomens Commission mission, very littlepsychosocial assistance was available to girls andwomen victims of gender-based violence.

OT H E R I S S U E S

The Womens Commission found a number ofother issues during the course of the mission.One was the problem of unregistered refugees,who have in some cases been waiting for monthsfor assistance; they cannot receive assistance untilthey are given official documentation by UNHCR.

Overcrowding in the camps remains a significantproblem, as does the lack of water. The issues arerelated: the search for much-needed new camps iscontingent on finding viable water sources, adifficult feat in the vast desert. The water rationshad been cut to below internationally acceptedstandards in at least one camp by the campmanagement.

Tensions are increasing between the refugees andthe host communities in many areas. The villagessurrounding the camps are among the poorest in

the world; a poor harvest last year has made theirsituation even worse.

E X E C U T I V E S U M M A R YR E C O M M E N D A T I O N S :

ADOLESCENT GIRLS

NGOs and United Nations agencies need tokeep pushing for girls and young women totake part in decision-making in camp manage-

ment, youth committees, womens groups, andin schools.

Each organization working on the ground shouldhave a gender specialist and should implementprojects with a gender perspective. Funding mustbe earmarked for this purpose.

GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE

All health care providers should immediatelyestablish and implement care for the survivorsof violence following established protocols.

Simple and safe alternative methods of cookingshould be expanded, and safe systems forgathering firewood must be created.

EDUCATION

Semi-permanent classrooms need to be built toprotect students from heat, wind, rain and sand-storms.

2 Wo m e n s C o m m i s s i o n f o r R e f u g e e Wo m e n a n d C h i l d r e n


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3Dont Forget Us

BACKGROUND ON THE SUDAN/CHAD SITUATION

More than 220,000 Sudanese from Darfur havefled the ongoing violence in their region andcrossed the border into the desert of eastern Chad.Most of the refugees are now in camps; however,at the time of the Womens Commission visitseveral thousand remained on the border or onthe periphery of some camps, waiting to be regis-tered. The conditions are bleak: water is in

very short supply and except for the southernmostcamps, it is nearly impossible to farm or otherwiseearn a living. With no imminent resolution to theDarfur crisis in sight and violence continuing, it isthought that between 50,000 and 100,000refugees might flee to eastern Chad in 2005.3

R E F U G E E S E T T L E M E N T A N D C A M P S

The most difficult thing is to care for women,children and girls. In Chad, previously, there was

a civil war. Women and children are now refugeesin a poor country, and this is a problem. Themain issues are education, food, potable waterand sanitation.4

--Minister of Social Action, Women and Families, Chad

Government

Since 2000, UNHCR has established 11 campsalong a 400-mile stretch of the West Darfur bor-der.5 At the time of the Womens Commissions

visit, the camps accommodated about 212,000people, the vast majority of them refugees. Thenumber is closer to 220,000 as of spring 2005.About 4,000-5,000 individuals had settled outsideof camps closer to the border, where it was easierto watch over livestock and make a living work-ing at farming or in local markets. While half ofthose not in camps wished to be transferred to a

camp, all remained vulnerable to cross-border jan-jaweed attacks until they are able and willing torelocate. Anticipating up to 100,000 additionalrefugees, UNHCR plans to open at least one morecamp in 2005.6

While UNHCR has strategically situated mostcamps near sources of potable water, environmen-tal factors are hurting both the refugee and localpopulations. Located on the southern fringes ofthe Sahara Desert, this area of eastern Chad isregularly subjected to intense heat, strong winds

and sandstorms. Clean water remains in shortsupply, leading to poor hygiene, and the threat ofdisease outbreaks such as hepatitis E and diar-rhea. Worsening the problem is a small harvestfrom a short rainy season, making the population,particularly children, vulnerable to malnutrition.7

Furthermore, the tremendous demand for fire-wood has begun to strip surrounding areas.UNHCR is responding by distributing kerosenestoves and transporting refugees to faraway loca-

Furniture and supplies, including textbooks,curriculum guides from Sudan, pens, paper,pencils, blackboards and sports equipment,should be provided or restocked immediately.

Distribution times for food and other itemsshould be set so that they do not conflict withschool hours; this then would not be used as an

excuse for keeping girls out of school.

A program of providing incentives to parents sothey send girls to school should be developedand implemented.

UNHCR and UNICEF should hire an education

staff member from the start of an operation.

Literacy classes should be available for allrefugees regardless of age or gender.

ADDITIONAL RECOMMENDATIONS

Local communities must be given resources sothat tensions between local people and refugeeslessen.

Because finding water sources is a priority, thedrilling of multiple bore holes should take placesimultaneously.


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tions for wood collection. Though these solu-tions mitigate ecological challenges, deliveringaid in a timely and effective manner hasbecome increasingly difficult as Chad lacksrailroads, sufficient all-weather roads and anadequate communication network.8

Periodically, gaps in relief have caused fightingbetween refugees and the host communities.The inequitable distribution of assistance andthe underlying desperation that looms in andaround the emergency situation have resultedin reports of theft, exploitation, rape andother offenses. Conducting operations fromthe regional capital of Abeche, UNHCR hastried to include the local population in itshumanitarian planning and budget.Compounding the problem is the fact that a2002 attempted coup diverted the attention of

President Deby and the Chadian Parliamentaway from the needs of its distant citizens. Acrossthe nation, the weakened rule of law has led tothe proliferation of light weapons and increasedcrime rates.9

P O P U L A T I O N

The tribal groups from Darfur living in the Chadrefugee camps include, but are not limited to, theZaghawa, Fur and Masaalit. In camps in thenorth, the primary group is the Zaghawa; in thesouth people are mostly Masaalit.10 It was report-

The refugee camps in eastern Chad are in a remote and very poorarea of the country, with very little infrastructure and fewresources. The camp pictured above is Iridimi.

Camp Date Opened13 Population Camp Management14

Oure Cassoni July 2004 19,000 IRC

Iridimi March 2004 17,000 (built for 7000) CARE

Touloum February 2004 19,000 SECADEV (Caritas)

Amnabak June 2004 16,000-16,500 CARE

Kounoungo February 2004 12,000 SECADEV

Mille May 2004 14,982 CARE

Djabal June 2004 17,000 InterSOS

Goz Amer March 2004 19,303 InterSOS

Farchana January 2004 19,200 + 600 new arrivals SECADEV

Treguine September 2004 13,480 or 14,480 CRT/IFRC

Breidjing May 2004 30,000 + 3,000 new arrivals(built for 20,000)

CARE


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ed by a refugee from Darfur who has traveledthroughout the region that people from the tribesin the south (mainly Masaalit) have suffered morethan the people in the north due to lack ofSudanese Liberation Army cadres in the southernregion of Darfur.11

Between 70 and 80 percent of the population inthe refugee camps are women and children; manyof the women are heads of household havingeither lost or been separated from male familymembers. The refugees traveled to Chad fromDarfur by foot, by donkey, by camel or by horse.For some, the journey was a matter of days; oth-ers traveled for a month before they arrived. Attimes, members of the same village were able totravel together and settle in the same camps.12

The chart on the page 4 provides the names of the

camps, the dates they were opened, and the popu-lations as of January 2005.

G E O G R A P H Y A N D C L I M AT E

The 11 refugee camps in eastern Chad lie alongalmost the entire length of the shared border withSudan. In the north, around Bahai and Iriba, peo-ple have settled in the desert with few trees, a lackof arable land and little water. People in camps inthe south of the country, near Goz Beida, fare a

bit better than those in the north. They havegreater access to water and it is possible to growcrops on small plots.15

During the rainy season, the wadis (riverbeds) fillup, making many areas, particularly in the south,impassable. With the summer heat comes the dryseason, when water is most needed. Periodic sand-storms cause widespread damage in the camps,battering tents or even knocking down entirestructures. Temperatures in the north of Chad can

range from more than 104F in the summer tobelow 32F in the winter. Few people have warmclothes and enough blankets to protect themselvesfrom the cold.

Most of the camps are safe distances from theborder with Sudan, but Oure Cassoni, thenorthernmost camp, is only two to three milesfrom the border. Sudan Liberation Army (SLA)rebels reportedly move in and out of the camp, asdo refugees, which raises considerable securityconcerns. Adre, which is the closest town to threeof the central refugee camps, is only 2.5 milesfrom the Sudan border, and is an importantmilitary town for Chad. UNHCR and NGOs arewell aware of the difficulties and dangers in theseareas.16

R E S O U R C E S

One of the significant challenges to the refugeesand the local community as wellis the difficultyfinding firewood. The Chad Minister of SocialAction, Women and Families said: There is anenvironmental problem. Half of Chad is desertand if you take the trees, you have deforestationand desertification. The problem is the same forboth refugees and Chadians.17 This issue will bediscussed in more detail on page 9, in the sectionon adolescent girls.

Water is scarce in eastern Chad and is a significantproblem in the refugee camps. In at least onecamp, water rations were cut to below Sphere

standards,18

and the quality was also questionable.The difficulty in finding water is one of the mainroadblocks to building much-needed new camps.Water is trucked to Amnabak from a great dis-tance, and to Oure Cassoni from 2.5 miles away;this is hugely expensive.19 UNHCR and NGOs arekeenly aware of this problem, but some say thataction should be taken more quickly to find watersources. More findings regarding water can befound on page 22.

5Dont Forget Us

The harsh climate in eastern Chad makes a difficult life forrefugees even harder. Water and firewood are scarce andtemperatures fluctuate from extreme heat to cold.Sandstorms and heavy rains also present a challenge. This

young girl lives in Kounoungo refugee camp.


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C A M P G O V E R N A N C E

UNHCR established all of the camps exceptAmnabak, which was settled spontaneously byrefugees, and provides the overarching guidelinesand funding for the camps; however, on-site campmanagement is done by NGOs.

Most of the camps are laid out in blocks, whichare then separated into zones. The number ofblocks, zones and tents or shelters in each campdiffers widely. In most of the camps visited by theWomens Commission, there was a series of gover-nance committees made up of refugees. Theseincluded a committee that interacted with theNGOs on site to share information and work outproblems, womens committees, education com-mittees and student committees.20

Gender balance in camp leadership was seen as adifficulty in all of the camps. In the Iridimi camp,however, the refugee committee consisted of 24people, with an equal balance of men and women.Initially, the committee reorganized itself with thesame leadership as in Sudan; women were notincluded. The camp manager, however, pushed tohave women on the committee. Although onegroup in the camp was strongly opposed to havingwomen in leadership roles, they were convincedwhen it was agreed, for example, that womenwould be best able to discuss issues relating topregnancy, birth and other reproductive health

issues. This may be one method to increasewomens participation in future leadership coun-cils, as long as the women have input into issuesbeyond those that affect only women.

S E C U R I T Y

The main security issues faced by refugees in thecamps were local village men entering the campsand abusing women, the theft of refugees cattleand villagers livestock eating refugee crops.

The government of Chad has provided gendarmes(police officers) for each of the camps, 180 intotal.21 The gendarmes are not allowed inside thecamps. Their responsibility is to provide a barrierbetween the interior of the camp and the outsideworld, and to screen people who enter the camps;they are not, however, involved in internal camp

issues.22

Their roles and responsibilities have beenset out in a Memorandum of Understandingbetween the government of Chad and UNHCR.

Inside at least two camps, refugees set up theirown security patrols. Patrols walk the streetsday and night, looking for theft of livestockor intra-camp violence. There was an attemptto include women in the patrols, but thecommunities rejected the idea of womenpatrolling at night.23



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Adolescence can be defined in a variety of ways;many societies or cultures have their own under-standing of what adolescence means and when itoccurs, either chronologically or as defined by acultural/societal context.24 The World HealthOrganization and UNFPA, for example, say thatadolescents are 10-19 years old.25 However, thisdefinition should be flexible given the differencesin culture and individual emotional, cognitive andsocial development.26

In interviews with refugees from Darfur, it becameclear to the Womens Commission that adoles-cence was not considered a developmental stage inDarfur. When asked about adolescent girls,refugees responded: What are adolescents? Whatdo you mean by that? When the term wasexplained, women and girls agreed that this was

not a concept that resonated with them. Femaleswere girls until menstruation, at which point theybecame women.

When is a child a women? At age 13 or 14,sometimes at 17. There is no adolescence here,you are a child, then an adult.27

This made limiting the definition to the acceptedWHO or UNFPA age range of 10-19 difficult.Staff of the Womens Commission spoke with girls

and women who ranged in age from seven to over70 years old. The Womens Commission attempt-ed to focus on the responses of girls between theages of 10 and 19, but information from olderwomen and younger girls is also included in thisreport.

Seventy to eighty percent of the population of thecamps are women and children. Girls have manyof the same duties as womencooking, collectingwater and firewood, minding children. Given thatgirls are already doing the work of women, andthat there is limited access to educationwhichprovides a time for young people to be more thanchildren but without having to bear full adultresponsibilitiesit is not surprising that a directshift occurs from girlhood to womanhood, withno period of time in between. Girls can be mar-ried while still under 10 years of age, althoughthey do not live with their husbands until theirearly- to mid-teens.28

Teen girls participate in the life of the home, butmuch less in the community. This is not unexpect-ed, given the marginalization of women and girlsin the cultures of Chad and Sudan. It appears thatteenage girls have no role in decision-making. Fewteenage girls were included in the committees thatmade up camp leadership. Some participated inwomens groups gathered for the WomensCommissions visit, however.

Adolescent refugee girls in Chad were both sur-vivors of and witnesses to atrocities in Darfur. UNworkers and NGO staff reported to the WomensCommission that this trauma had affected thebehavior of some teenage girls in the camps.

Despite their trauma, teenage girls in the campsdemonstrated astonishing resilience. Theyperformed their daily tasks and perhaps mostimportantly, many were going to school. TheWomens Commission saw teenage girls with theirhands raised, straining, eager to answer questionsposed by teachers, thrilled to be in school, manyfor the first time.

In Darfur, people lived in rural areas spread over

7Dont Forget Us

ADOLESCENT GIRLS

These refugee girls have just finished a day of school at GozAmer refugee camp. They are luckymany primary schoolage children in this camp were not in school at the time ofthe Womens Commission visit because of a lack of teachers.


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great distances and were marginalized by theSudanese government, which provided little or nohealth or education assistance. Girls often wouldnot be educated because they were needed athome for chores and the society did not under-stand the value of education for girls. School feeswere reserved for boys, because girls were married

young and were not seen as needing education tofulfill their life duties. In addition, due to culturalnorms and fear of abuse by male teachers, parentsdid not allow their daughters to attend residentialschools after the early grades. Once girls reachedthe age of eight or nine, they were brought hometo care for younger children, till the fields, cookand wash. If a girl started her education, it usuallyended when she married.29

The situation is different in the refugee camps inChad. Many girls had the opportunity to go toschool for the first time in their lives. Becausetheir families had lost most of their livestock andno longer had fields to tend, girls had more freetime and therefore were allowed by their parents

to attend. The Womens Commission delegationsaw girls from ages 5 to 17 in classes. Most of thegirls and young women were in the lower gradesbecause they had never been to school.

M A R R I A G E A N D A D O L E S C E N T

G I R L SFourteen is the average age of menstruation inDarfur. Menstruation is the end of childhood, you

go straight to adulthood. There is no such thing asadolescence.30

Girls marry, on average, between the age of 14and 18 years in Darfur; the family of the womancollects a dowry as her bride-price. This pro-vides incentives for a family to marry a girl offearly since they no longer have to support herand, instead, collect payment for her.31 At this

point, girls usually stop going to school.32

Because girls often marry young, when they givebirth they often face obstructed labor due to anunderdeveloped pelvis. Two of the five natal mor-talities in the Mille camp were to girls age 15 andwere due to obstructed labor. There are mixedreports on numbers of young girls who are givingbirth.33

R E C O M ME N DAT I O N S : A D O L E S CE N T

G I R L S NGOs and United Nations agencies need to

keep pushing for girls and young women totake part in decision-making in camp manage-ment, youth committees, womens groups, andin schools.

Each organization working on the groundshould have a gender specialist and shouldimplement projects with a gender perspective.Funding must be earmarked for this purpose.


Many refugeegirls are going to

school for the firsttime in Chad andare learning theimportance ofeducation, as aretheir mothers,most of whomwere neverallowed to attendschool.


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The following section follows up on some of thefindings of an August 2004 Womens Commissionreport on Chad, Lifesaving Reproductive HealthCare: Ignored and Neglected.34

Both women and adolescent girls are subject togender-based violence (GBV) in Chad and Darfur;however, in this report, GBV will be discussedprimarily in the context of adolescent girls.

The issue of GBV arose in all of the camps visited,mainly involving violence toward adolescent girls,including rape and beatings by the janjaweed in

Darfur, and by the local Chadian population whengirls in the camps gather firewood. While there islittle reported domestic violence, staff of UNICEFand other refugee aid workers in the Djabal campsaid that there had been reports of women visitinghealth centers for treatment from beatings.Reports indicate that these beatings took placeinside the camp and were perpetrated by a spouse.Women would talk about being victims of vio-lence if it occurred outside of the camp, but not ifit happened inside.35 A formal system for reportingincidents did not appear to be in place in thecamps as of the end of January 2005. Without aplace to report incidents of GBV, fewer incidentswill become known. Reporting minimizes thenumber of GBV violations.36

Reports about the care of women raped by jan-jaweed militiamen and about babies that resultedfrom rape were mixed within camps and fromcamp to camp.37 Culture and trauma were cited asbarriers to communication. Girls would be hard-pressed to reveal rape, particularly by the jan-jaweed, due to the social ostracism that could

result.38 Girls who are made pregnant by the jan-jaweed and who are alone face great difficulties,and often dont have enough to care for their chil-dren, including blankets and clothes. In some cases,girls and their families want to be rid of babiesfrom the janjaweed, and the babies are neglected.39

In a number of situations, NGOs are encouragingthe community to accept the young woman andthe baby; this is happening in Breidjing andTreguine camps where CARE is addressing the

problem by providing special assistance for theyoung women and advising them on health.

In the Oure Cassoni camp, the InternationalRescue Committee (IRC) has implemented a refer-ral system for women who have experienced GBV.Traditionally in Darfur, if a woman is raped, sheoften must marry the rapist. Only if this is deemedunacceptable and no solution can be reached arelegal consequences sought.40 Many of the healthcare providers the Womens Commission spoke towere unaware whether women who survived rapereceived clinical care.

During the time of the Womens Commissionmission, UNHCRs gender officer had startedtraining staff and government counterparts onUNHCRs guidelines on women, including codesof conduct and GBV issues. They are planningto develop more activities with women, someinvolving men, in the near future.41

F I R E W O O D C O L L E C T I O N

Collecting firewood for cooking is one of themajor occupations for women and girls inthe refugee camps in eastern Chad. Culturally,gathering wood is the job of females. Wood issomewhat more prevalent in southern Chad thanin the north, but the competition for firewood,and the violence that results, continues to be asignificant problem on this eastern border.

We need the NGOs to bring firewood in lorries[trucks]. If they do not, we have to keep going. Wehave heard and seen rape with our own eyes hereoutside the camp. In one day, three people were

raped. On another day, two were raped. Webrought a girl to one hospital and then to anotherhospital so others dont know that she was raped.In the sheik meetings (women and men), arealeaders bring weekly problems. At these meetings,we find out about the problems, and rapes thathappened during that week. One 10-year-old girlwas raped twice. There is no response from the

government. We invited the governor to come andsit in a meeting with us, but the person refused. 42

9Dont Forget Us

ADOLESCENT GIRLS AND GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE


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In most of the camps visited by the WomensCommission, girls and women had to walk for atleast one hour to gather wood; many reportedhaving to walk two or more hours each way.Gathering wood took at least one to two hours bythe time it was found, chopped and bundled; girlsand women often needed to collect wood two orthree times a week. When girls are sent to collectwood, they miss at least a day of school.

In two camps, Amnabak and Touloum, womenand girls reported that they had no problems with

the local population when they went to gatherwood. In at least six of the camps, UN and NGOstaff, women and girls reported intimidation orthreatening behavior by the local community. Inanother camp, local people did not assault thewomen and girls, but intimidated them and tookthe firewood they had collected. In yet anothercamp, local people were demanding money fromthe refugees for the firewood they collected. Afterthis was brought to the attention of the localsheik, the practice stopped.43

The most devastating and destructive occurrencewhile gathering firewood was the beating and/orrape of girls and adolescent girls, as reported infour of the campsIridimi, Treguine, Mille andBreidjing. In two of the camps, women and girlsreported rapes by the local community. During aconversation with a group of teenage girls, twotold the same story:

The danger is the same, near or far, but theresno wood nearby. When we are there getting the

wood, local people sometimes take the girlsclothes off. And do bad things. The people wear

green uniforms. Some have camels, some havehorses. At the place where we get the firewoodthey tell us, Line up one by one. They say, stand2 by 2 and they take us off like that and then theyrape us. Sometimes this happens until evenings.

We have told the police, but the police say stay inyour tent and nothing will happen.44

In one of these camps, a woman reported that thelocal men took their tops and shoes, too. Shecontinued: We talked to the sheik about it, andhe said we have no rights here because we arerefugees. Dont go get firewood, he said. We willstill get firewood. We dont have any choice.45

A number of solutions have been proposed andare being implemented to stop the violence towardrefugee women and girls. IRC in Bahai has started

a program of firewood collection by truck, withan escort of gendarmes. The truck goes out once aweek and the women and girls collect wood in aplace agreed upon with the local community. Inother camps, women and girls go in groups onspecific days or to specific areas, or certainwomen are designated to gather wood for a groupand then distribute it when they return.

Both the UN and NGOs are working with womenand girls to use solar stoves or mud stoves thatconserve fuel.46 UNHCR has introduced fuel

efficient stoves in some areas. The need for men toget wood to ensure the safety of women wasraised; however, it was stated that this changewould be long in coming and would only work ifthe men were not targets themselves.

P S Y C H O S O C I A L P R O G R A M S

As of the end of January 2005, very few psychoso-cial programs existed in the camps, and those thatdid were only able to serve a small number of

children. Refugees in Chad have lost family, land,cattle, possessions and their communities. Manyhave witnessed or been the victims of atrocities,including rape, beating and murder. Females of allages were raped in Darfur. Sudanese refugees inChad carry deep psychological burdens. Frominterviews, it became clear that the refugees didnot want to discuss what happened in Darfur,particularly the refugees in the northern camps.

In response to these experiences, a few models for


Refugee women and girls like these have to walk for hoursto find firewood and are at times attacked by members ofthe local community who are concerned about dwindlingresources. Cases of rape and other violence have beenreported in many areas.


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psychosocial help have been implemented in thecamps; almost all incorporate working with thecommunities to develop non-invasive and/or tradi-tional methods.47 The Christian Childrens Fundhas established playgroups for children. In Bahai,IRC has set up information centerskiosks wherethe community can get information about food

distribution, hygiene and vaccines.After discussion and education, some womenbegin to talk about what has happened to them.Sometimes staff only learn about rapes thatoccurred in Darfur when women come in to givebirth. Medical staff then alert UNHCR, whichadvises the mother and family of the baby not tobe ashamed and not to reject the mother or baby.UNHCR reports that only a few such cases havecome to their attention.48

In working to establish its psychosocial programs

the International Medical Corps (IMC), based onprevious work with the UN in Khartoum, is con-sidering the family unitas opposed to the indi-vidual, as is common in Western thoughtas thebest avenue for protection. IMC staff train olderneighborhood women and the camps sheik aboutthe trauma that can develop after rape, assault orwitnessing these and other atrocities. These abusesare not named specifically, but called emotionalpain. In the training, the different cultures arerespected and suggestions are devised to preventadditional harm or re-traumatization. Ongoingsupervision of women trainees is central to theprocess.49

An IMC doctor working in the area said: Peopledont talk about this because of pride and shame.

The whole family is hurt by this violence. Wemust work in a very slow, respectful way.50 Astaff person in the Mille camp said: How do wehelp people deal with emotional pain fromDarfur? By giving sympathy. We were trained ingender-based violence, but people dont talk aboutit. People deal with it silently.51 Staff working in

the Djabal camp stated that women and girls donot talk about what happened to them in Darfuror in Chad, making intervention more difficult.52

R E C O M ME N DAT I O N S : G B V

All health care providers should immediatelyestablish and implement care for the survivorsof violence following established protocols.

GBV specialists should be hired to train teachercoordinators and others about GBV, including

sexual exploitation and a code of conduct.

Simple and safe alternative methods of cookingshould be expanded, and sensitization andinstruction should accompany the newtechnology.

Alternative fuels should be made available.

Systems for gathering firewood must be createdthrough discussion, including refugees, andNGO and UN representatives.

Sensitization must begin on ways to change thegender-specific task of wood gathering.

A formal system for reporting incidents ofgender-based violence must be set up in thecamps.

11Dont Forget Us


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I studied for one year in Sudan. I am takingliteracy classes now. I want to understand. Itsgood for me. I feel very good when I study toread. Someone who has not studied comparedto someone who has studied is like darknesscompared to light. I like to read Islamic books, Iread together with my friends and we writetogether. There are 140 women in my class, and I

go every day, morning and evening. I studyArabic. Before, there were two teachers, one left,and now there is one. I know how to write myname, how to hold a pen, and I am hopeful for

the future. I want my daughter to finish hereducation, she is 10 years old. She goes to school.I want her to be a doctor or a teacher.

-- Aza, 35, Mille Refugee Camp

Education is critically important for the cognitivedevelopment, overall well-being and protection ofgirls and adolescent girls, as well as for the stabili-ty and safety of a community. This is particularlytrue in a refugee or IDP camp where young peoplemay have been victims of violence or are at risk of

conscription into armed groups.At the very least, school provides a structure anda daily routine for girls and adolescent girls. Afterthe disruption of displacement and potentialexposure to violence, structure is one of the mostprotective aspects of education; girls have less timeto dwell on what happened to them and have afocus for their thoughts. With somewhere to go,children are less likely to become child soldiers orinvolved in illegal activities.53 If girls are in school,there is a chance that they will not have to collect

firewood or that they will learn safer strategies forfirewood collection, and will therefore have lessexposure to potential GBV. School can providehope for the future and a purpose for living.54

Teachers, perhaps more than any other group,see children on a daily basis and have a greaterpotential to identify abuse than medical profes-sionals who may only see a child for other healthproblems or in the event of severe abuse. Teacherscan be even more effective if they are trained to

identify situations of abuse and to alert a childprotection officer when they suspect trouble.55

It was difficult to estimate the number of girlswho had attended school in Darfur prior tocoming to the camps. As stated previously, girlshad a hard time accessing education, and whenthey did, it was most often P1 to P3 (primary year1 to primary year 3). It was clear in the refugeecamps that far more girls, including adolescentgirls, attended the lower grades (P1 and P2) andthat very few, if any, enrolled in the higher grades.

This was confirmed by all of the people withwhom Womens Commission staff spoke.

Adolescent and teenage girls made up a significantpercentage of the total number of girls in school.UNHCR estimates that in many of the camps, atleast 50 percent of the children and youth attend-ing lower primary classes were girls. In Touloum,70 percent of the students in P1 and P2 were girls;this is not a surprise given the number of girlswho had very little or no education in Darfur andhad to start from the beginning.56

There was very little for teenage girls to do in thecamps other than domestic chores. There were novisible livelihood projects and secondary educa-tion did not exist. Even if it did, most girls were


The refugee camps had few visible livelihood projects foradolescents who are not in school. Many teenage girls in thecamps had little to do other than domestic chores.

ADOLESCENT GIRLS AND EDUCATION


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so far behind they would not have been able toparticipate.

The number of girls in classes one to four is veryhigh, but in classes five to eight, its very low.Why? In Darfur, girls do not always continuetheir education to P6 class. The economy is weak,but this will change. Girls will probably stay inschool longer. Girls and women are making thedecision to go to school, even the married oneswith children; this is a big change. The womenand girls here in the camps saw the big differencebetween those who are educated and those whoare not. In Sudan, we have to pay for education,thats why girls dont go. The community decidesto bring girls back to help the family. Then theysaw NGO people; they saw that they had goodconditions and education. In Darfur, they didntsee this. In Darfur, we did a lot without educa-

tion; we worked in fields, with cattle, etc. Now wehave none of this, so education we decide is best.We are a very strong community in this camp. Weadvise families to keep their daughters in school.If anyone wants to take their daughter out, weadvise them to keep the girl in. About 2,500married girls come to school here, we have 17- to20-year-olds in primary school.

-- Teachers, Treguine camp

H I S T O RY O F E D U C A T I O NI N T H E C A M P S

When the refugees arrived in Chad, they foundthemselves in a city of people in contrast tothe small remote villages to which they were accus-tomed.57 Heads of schools and teachers in the bur-geoning camps saw an opportunity to educate largenumbers of children, including girls. Although therewas still a great deal of work to do each day,including collecting firewood, carrying water andcooking, there was enough time for children, espe-cially girls, to attend classes, as most of the

refugees livestock and fields were gone. Educationwas seen as critically important for the well-beingand future of the people in the camps. As one ofthe teachers said, In the future, we will fight ourbattles with the pen and not with the sword.58

In Darfur, school was inside. We had chairs anddesks. In Sudan, we first had breakfast. Here thereare no books or uniforms. It is totally different.

-- Ilham, 15, Touloum Camp.

Education programs in the refugee camps wereofficially opened in October 2004 by UNHCR,UNICEF and the government of Chad; however,education had been established in most campsprior to that time.59 In some camps where refugeesarrived spontaneously at the beginning of the cri-sis, they set up their own schools. Refugees organ-

ized themselves, found their own teachers, schooldirectors and support staff from their communityin Darfur. The manager of the camp in Iridimisaid:

Before July of 2004, teachers in the camp startedclasses themselves. They wanted kids to learn.Some teachers fled Darfur with books; they sharedthem here in the camp. Iridimi started with acentral school, but then 8-10 schools were createdby refugees. Now there are schools in all the zonesof camp, they are centralized so lots of kids can

go to school. We have 13 preschools for kids ages3-5. This is helpful because teenage girls donthave to care for the younger children and can stayin school. Children who are eligible for P1 andmiss the first part of the school year can go to

preschool and register for next year. We have aninspector who oversees all the schools.60

In camps to which refugees were moved byUNHCR, such as Treguine, Mille and Touloum,refugees pushed almost immediately for educationwith the assistance of UNHCRs department ofcommunity services.

Tijani Abraham, headmaster in the Mille camp,described the experience of starting education inthe Mille camp:

We were resettled here by the NGOs. The firstthing we thought was to start education for ourchildren, and we started schools by ourselvesthrough a proposal to the CARE camp manager.We started with a proposal for two schools, andwe said we would teach on a voluntary basis.Then UNICEF came, and two teachers were

trained by them in Abeche, then they trainedothers. It was a training of trainers. UNICEF hasprovided exercise books, pens, chalk, etc. Eachzone in the camp has a school, and there is also acentral school. We think education and theschools will grow more and more. Teachers are

paid 15,000 CFA. But incentive is not the objec-tive, the objective is education.61

Harold Edrice Yacoub, headmaster of education inthe Treguine camp said:

13Dont Forget Us


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On 19 May 2004, the NGOs establishedTreguine [camp], but our children lost educationduring the time we were moving. We talked abouteducation among the community, and I called allthe teachers from the blocks to discuss a plan forschools and educating the children. By the thirdmeeting, we opened a preschool in every blocka

total of 33 preschools. After that, an NGO visitedus, then UNICEF came and met with us. The

person from UNICEF said that was too many,and promised us 100 tents for classrooms. Wemade seven schools, then in October, UNICEFbrought 26 tents of the 100 tents they promised,but we could not use them because the tents werenot complete. CORD [Christian Outreach, Reliefand Development] tried to put the tents up, but itdid not work. This is all taking time. We haveexercise books and pens. Now we have startedtraining teachers.62

Even in Amnabak, considered a transit camp,schools are running and classes are being taught.A primary school teacher said:

In Amnabak, we all came together. I teachgrades 1-8 and have been teaching since 1984.From the time we arrived, we began the schools.We do all the education ourselves, we want ourchildren to learn. We are very poor. Coming heremade our children lose education. UNICEF hasbrought us supplies, but there are not enough. We

are from three provinces in Darfur.63

At the time of the Womens Commission mission,UNICEF had taken responsibility for education inall camps with their main focus the education ofgirls; previously, UNHCR was the focal point foreducation. UNHCRs role is to make sure the rightto education is adhered to for primary school,which includes making sure there are tents forschools and school materials for children.64 TheUNICEF sub-office in Abeche opened in August2004, and training of school directors began.

UNICEF also increased delivery of school materi-als, pens, composition books, chalk, etc. Trainingfor primary school teachers was established in fall2004 for all but four of the camps; preschooltraining was set up and began at the end of 2004.In January and February of 2005, UNICEFtrained preschool and primary school teachers inthe four remaining camps.65

UNICEF had partnered with several NGOs toimplement education programs in conjunction

with the refugee community: SECADEV (Caritas),CARE, CORD, the IRC and INTERSOS areamong UNICEFs implementing partners conduct-ing education programs in the camps.66 In additionto choosing the partners, UNICEF is now formal-izing and increasing support to the NGOs work-ing on education, and education partners meet bi-

weekly. UNICEFs goal is to have 30 percent ofchildren in primary school; however, the lack ofclassrooms, teachers and supplies are hinderingthat goal. At the time of the Womens Commissionmission, UNICEF did not have an education staffperson in place in country. In February 2005, edu-cation staff finally arrived in Abeche.67

Schools in Touloum started in April of 2004.UNICEF approached the refugees, and togetherthey made a plan. A teacher said:

We had to organize ourselves, to figure out the

numbers of students who need school; thenUNICEF would bring us the supplies, when wedid this, they would bring blackboards and othersupplies. The Minister of Education of Chadcame. We started with school for those ages 10and up. Then we made schools for children in P1and P2. We did this, we made the education.68

C L A S S E S / C L A S S R O O M S

The Womens Commission delegation was ableto talk to people in each of the 10 camps abouteducation, but was only able to obtain classroomstatistics for six of the camps due to time


The refugee camps dont have enough tents for classrooms,so often classes are held outside, like this class in

Kounoungo refugee camp. Teachers in several camps saidsevere weather (heat, wind, cold, rain) keep children awayfrom school. Some never return.


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constraints and the unavailability of staff in somecamps.

None of the 10 camps visited had enoughclassroom space to accommodate the number ofchildren in school. In the Touloum camp, childrenwere being taught in structures that consisted ofwood poles with plastic sheeting wrapped aroundthem; half of the students were inside, half werebeing taught outside between the structures tokeep out of the wind. Teachers reported, andWomens Commission staff experienced, harshwind and cold conditions that the children had toendure while outside. Teachers said that the tentsthat were distributed had been shredded by thewind and sand. Teachers reported losing studentswhen the weather turned particularly severe; somewould never return.

Womens Commission staff estimate that theaverage class size was 55-70 students, with oneteacher. One teacher told the staff that she hadfour classes of 450 students each, and that not allchildren who wanted to could go to school.69

When classrooms were available, they were oftenovercrowded. In the Djabal camp, teachers saidthat the children did not have adequate clothingto attend school.70

Touloum created its educational structure by age,with those under age 10 attending P1 or P2, andthose ages 10-20 attending P3-P6. The majority of

the classes were P1 and P2. Educators at the Millecamp described similar circumstances. TijaniAbraham, the headmaster for schools in Mille, saidthat most of the children in the camp were inschool, and that their goal was 100 percent atten-dance by the end of the year. Mille camp has eightschools; each has a headmaster, while one headmas-ter oversees all of the schools. Mille has preschoolclasses (ages 2-5) and P1 classes (ages 5-7) in eachcamp zone. From P2-P8 (ages 7-18), classes areheld in a central school; currently classes go to P6;

however, they are prepared to teach P7 and P8. Inboth the preschools and primary schools, there aremore girls than boys in the classes, as girls are try-ing to make up for the years of education theymissed in Darfur.71 Literacy classes are held in theevenings, and are attended by women. The Koranicschools are open to all ages.

In Djabal camp, Womens Commission staff metwith a large group of teachers under a tree used asa classroom. They said that they had only three

tents for classes, but that parents and teachers

constructed straw-walled classrooms.

Most classes are held under the trees, which is dif-ficult during the rainy season. The camp is dividedinto two sections for education, Shulas A and B.The shulas include preschools and primary schoolsthrough grade 8. Girls are present in all gradesexcept P8; however, the number of girls in eachgrade drops off significantly the higher the grade.Teachers estimate that only 40 percent of thecamps children are going to school; they attributethis to a lack of teachers, classrooms and

supplies.72

The Breidjing camp had no tents or structuresfor classrooms; classes were held inside squaresdelineated by rocks in the sand. Zadok Lempert of

15Dont Forget Us

The community in Goz Amer refugee camp built structuresout of straw for classrooms when much needed tents did notarrive. This area has more access to wood products thanmost of the other refugee areas.

At the time of the Womens Commissions visit, Breidjingrefugee camp had no tents for classrooms. The stone outlines

pictured above served as classrooms for the children.


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CORD said, Time is precious to usits everyhour in the sun for the children.73 A group ofteachers from the Treguine camp described thesituation of teaching without classrooms or tentsfor the teachers and students. They talked aboutthe wind and the cold, and how the children werenot coming to school due to the lack of tents.

They said, If we have tents, maybe more willcome.74

In Oure Cassoni camp, which suffers some of theworst weather conditions in the camps, all of thetents used for schools blew down the week beforethe Womens Commission delegation arrived.75

Because the camp may be moved, at the time ofthe Womens Commissions visit funding was notavailable for semi-permanent structures thatwould be able to withstand the wind. Water tomake the brick or mud walls of a semi-permanent

structure was also in short supply; however, alter-native building materials could be found. It wasunclear when and if the camp will be moved awayfrom the border and where the new camp will beplaced, or what its structure will be. There is thepossibility that four satellite camps of 25,000people each will be developed within the nextyear.76

E D U C AT I O N A S P S Y C H O S O C I A LA S S I S T A N C E

All adolescent girls, by virtue of being refugeeswho have lost their homes and possessions, andwhose social networks and cultural norms havebeen disrupted, experienced trauma. Many of theadolescent girls in the camps have faced additionaltrauma, witnessing family members being killed orraped, or having been physically assaulted and/orraped themselves.77 In Darfur tradition, being anadolescent and being raped means that you maynever marry. Married and unmarried adolescentgirls in this area can quickly find themselves

destitute given the patriarchal nature of the societyand the shunning of a raped woman. Reports ofrape have been confirmed; the victims range fromthree-year-olds to the oldest women.78

Traditional western models of intervention, forexample, talk therapy or group therapy, are not cul-turally appropriate in this setting due to the shameand cultural stigma associated with rape, and thepride of the people. A woman in a womens com-mittee living in the Amnabak camp said:

Some of us have been here 13 months, others ofus 9 or 10 months. We lost most of our family inDarfur. Some of us cant sleep. We lost all our cat-tle. We cannot forget what happened to us, wethink about it. We believe it is better to keep allthat we have seen inside.79

Attending school can provide the physical andemotional structure and cognitive engagement thatcan help people deal with their trauma and helpthe community regain some of its cultural norms.CORD, an INGO working in Chad, is sponsoringthe use of art as a tool for psychosocial help inTreguine camp. Hawa Bakheid Adoum, whoteaches P1, said:

Children do paintings, they draw air strikes thathappened in their village. This helps them forgetwhat happened in Sudan. Some also paint govern-

ment troops, the janjaweed, guns, horses, camels,shelling and those who surrounded their villagearea. We dont talk about it. We advise them, Youhave to forget what happened in Sudan and whatyou saw, that will not happen here. Now we haveto educate ourselves so we can control our land inthe future.80

CORD is developing a psychosocial program thatbegins by gathering youth to make traditionaltoys. After the children work for a few weeks onthe toys, the program director begins to talk with

the youth about their villages. She also sharesstories of her life in her home town. The childrenthen begin drawing pictures of their villages. Thepictures contain images of planes droppingbombs, soldiers shooting people and fire. CORD


Children in Breidjing refugee camp drew pictures of whatthey saw in their villages in Darfur. Many of the pictureswere similar to the one above.


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plans to continue this program in Treguine.81

The Christian Childrens Fund planned to developpsychosocial support within their early childhoodeducation programs and play centers. HIAS inGoz Beida is running a preschool program andwill begin to include a psychosocial component.82

T E A C H E R S

Refugees who were teachers, school inspectorsand heads of schools in Darfur took the samepositions in the refugee camps in Chad. In manycases, it was the teachers and school officials inthe camp who initially established the educationalstructure. Womens Commission staff spoke withmany teachers who were deeply committed toeducation in the camps and will continue to teach.However, a variety of challenges exist.

Teachers were deeply concerned about the lack ofsupplies, curriculum guides, furniture, tents, semi-permanent structures and class sizes. But perhapsthe most important issues for teachers personallywere the incentives provided by UNHCR. AllNGOs and UN organizations agreed early in 2005that a set rate should be developed for incentives.Heads of schools would receive 20,000 Chadianfrancs (CF) (US$37) per month, teachers would bepaid 15,000 CF and unskilled school workerswould get 10,000 CF. The Womens Commission

was told that some teachers were leaving to earnmore money collecting firewood or doing otherwork that paid more.83 Teachers pay in Chad is25,000 CFs per month.

NGO and UN representatives had different opin-ions on incentives. Some felt that teachers shouldbe teaching without payment because they lovewhat they do and that it was an expected contri-bution to the community. Others felt that 15,000CF was adequate, and still others felt that theincentive should be raised to just below the mini-

mum salary of teachers in Chad. Nearly all teach-ers in the camps the Womens Commission visitedvoiced concern about the low level of the incen-tive. One camp manager said:

The NGOs (including the UN) need to give agood salary to teachers, but the NGOs say thatthey give 15,000 CF per month. In Sudan, theymade about 500,000 Sudanese dinars [US$200]

per month as a starting salary. This [the pay inChad] is nothing, soap costs more per month.

They have not been paid in three months.Teachers leave to find other work. Who will keepteaching?84

A staff person at one of the camps said:

Teachers were getting 15,000 CF per month.Security guards were getting 80,000 CF. You cant

pay guards 80,000 and teachers 15,000 andexpect them to stay.85

Preschool teachers do not receive any incentives.86

The Womens Commission heard reports of pre-school teachers in some camps going on strike todemand pay.

The gender balance of teachers in the camps isanother concern. Most of the primary schoolteachers are men. All of the early child educationor preschool teachers in the camps are women.The lack of incentives for preschool teachers

presents a problem not only for pay and socialequity; it also creates a lack of role models forgirls and young women, and may lead to greaterdrop-out rates for girls.87

Teacher training has been started by UNICEF andCORD. UNICEF has developed and implementeda program in which a group of teachers is trained;they then return and train other teachers. In theFarchana camp, CORD conducted a 9-week inten-sive Arabic literacy course for 26 women who willthen teach others.88 In Treguine, 12 women teach-

ers had received teacher training; 20 more womenare expected to be trained.

C U R R I C U L U M

The Sudanese school curriculum is taught inArabic in all of the camps. A significant deficit isthat almost none of the schools have curriculumguides or Sudanese textbooks.89

I would like my daughter to finish her education,to be headmaster of a school. I encourage her to

finish her education, sometimes I promise herthings so that she will go to school and do work,things like new clothes, shoes, and I give her smallmoney to buy things. I feel that school is very

good for her, and that this is good education anda good school. Shes my older daughter. My son isin P2. All her sisters are in school. She has twoexercise books, one pen and one ruler, but I haveto buy her pens from the market because she losesthem. We used to pay teachers here in the camp to

17Dont Forget Us


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teach our children, about 1,500 Sudanese poundsa month, but we dont pay anymore. When theteachers started, there was no pay, so we parentsdecided to give them money for their assistance.We are the parents, we decided to educate ourchildren first (before the NGOs came). TheNGOs are here, but they are not doing education.

We organized ourselves under trees and foundteachers. It was easy to organize. In October2004, an NGO came in and started to help witheducation. UNHCR came in and brought exercisebooks, etc. My daughters would have gone toschool in Sudan if we were still there.

-- Samiras father, Jama, Farchana Camp

S C H O O L F E E S

In most camps, parents or guardians were notpaying fees to send their children to school. In twoof the camps, Djabal and Treguine, voluntary feeswere collected by the community at the beginningof the refugee situation in Chad and ended whenteachers began receiving the 15,000 CF incen-tive from UNHCR. It is unclear whether teachersin Treguine are asking for fees or supplementalsupplies from parents of children attending school;

however, parents or guardians in the Djabal campare paying about 200-300 CF per month to sendeach child to school.

S E C O N D A R Y S C H O O L S

There were no secondary schools in any of thecamps the Womens Commission visited. This wasa concern for teachers as well as students because

of its implications for the future. A teacher inTouloum said:

We dont have secondary school. There are noexams from Sudan, so we cant have secondaryschool. The war is why we lose our education.90

Students who were about to enter secondary

school, were in secondary school or attending uni-versity in Sudan have little to do in the camp.Some teach or assist teachers providing primaryeducation. There are no classes to prepare forexams, which are unavailable, but are vital inorder to be able to attend university.

At least 18 university students and 79 secondarystudents lived in the Mille camp. The teacherswere not trained to teach secondary education andsome of the students who finished P8 were attend-ing P6 classes just to be in school. Others got

together to try to learn English on their own orwere trained to run activities for IMC.91

UNHCR was beginning to think about developingadult education/vocational programs in the campsso that refugees ages 17-45 (more or less) would beable to learn skills that would be useful both in thecamps and in Darfur. The program would includeteaching skills in carpentry, sewing and tie dying,and would be particularly important for adolescentgirls given the pervasive lack of primary educationfor girls of this age group. The idea is that the

same programs could be started in Darfur so thatwhen the refugees go home, they could completetheir educational programs and training. They planto begin in October 2005, and hope to have one ineach camp. This would be undertaken prior to thedevelopment of secondary schools.92

L I T E R A C Y C L A S S E S / A D U L TE D U C A T I O N

I was educated in Darfur to P7. I would like tocontinue school, I want to be a teacher. Education

changed meto be more systematic, more disci-plined. I am not married yet, I have no children.

-- Fatima Abduhaman Mohammed, 18, Farchana

camp.

Literacy classes were established in most camps.Women comprised the largest number of studentsbecause most of the men were already literate.93

Women in every camp stated that they wanted toread and write.


Samira, 7, andher father at

Farchana refugeecamp. Samirasfather would like

her to finishschool andbecome a head-master.


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Literacy classes were usually held in the mornings orevenings to accommodate the daily chores and wereprimarily oriented toward adults. Many of the ado-lescent married women who could not or did notattend school attended literacy classes.94 In additionto basic literacy, some of the classes also taughtnumeracy and Islam.95 CARE encouraged literacyclasses in the camps where it was operational.

Literacy class teachers do not receive compensa-tion and many explained the difficulties of notreceiving stipends for extra work, when they couldchoose to take on a paying evening job instead.This is an area that should be explored further.96

E A R L Y C H I L D H O O D E D U C A T I O N

Most of the camps visited had some form ofpreschool programs; these included safe spaces toplay and more formal and structured early-childhood programs. Almost all of the earlychildhood teachers or monitors were women, and,as mentioned above, none received incentives ofany kind. Early childhood education is animportant component of educating adolescent

girls. If young children are at home, it is oftenteenage girls who care for them. If very youngchildren are in preschool, it frees up girls to beable to attend school themselves.

K O R A N I C S C H O O L S

Many of the camps have Koranic schools. Koranicschools focused on teaching about Islam, but inthe process also taught literacy. The classes oftenmet in the morning or the evening so that peoplecould attend and still work during the daytime.

Ages of attendees varied from camp to camp. InAmnabak, the Koranic school held preschool forthose under four years old; however, this seemed tobe an exception. Reports at most camps indicatedthat men and women were the main attendees, butthere did not appear to be age restrictions.

H E A L T H E D U C A T I O N

Health education, including hygiene and cleaningmethods, was taught in at least two of the camps,Farchana and Touloum. Teachers were trained

and the knowledge was passed to the youth in theclasses. The children then brought this informa-tion home to their families. Children and youthwere taught songs about hygiene and learned toperform musical and dramatic presentations onhealth and hygiene for the community.97

S P O N TA N E O U S R E F U G E E SA N D E D U C A T I O N

In the Farchana camp, Womens Commission staffmet informally with adolescent girls, women andchildren who had been living inside the camp forone to three months. These spontaneousarrivalsof which there were about 3,000hadnot yet been registered, and therefore were notallowed to draw food rations or attend school.

19Dont Forget Us

Health education and the importance of pre-and post-natalcare are taught in many of the refugee camps.

This refugeewoman, 19,didnt go toschool inSudan, butsays she wouldlike to start inthe camp. Wedidnt knoweducation was

good for uswomen beforewe came to thecamp. Now weknow, shesaid.


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We came to the Farchana camp late. We havebeen here one month and two days. Some of theother refugees give us some of their food, usuallyour relatives, because we cannot get rations with-out being registered. We were told we would getregistration cards after Eid Al Attah (January 20,2005), but they didnt tell us what day. We have

no tents, we live under the trees. There are a lot ofpeople in this situation, but I dont know howmany. We came directly from Darfur. Without theregistration card, we cant get anything, not evenhealth services for ourselves. If our children aresick, we can take them for medication, but notanyone else. UNHCR promises that when we geta card, we will get everything.

--Woman from Farchana Camp

UNHCR explained that the spontaneous arrivalshad to be registered to ensure that they were allrefugees before they could receive assistance andaccess services. UNESCOs website states:

Children cannot be stored like tents or blankets,awaiting an end to war and conflict beforebeginning or resuming their education; this is therecipe for a lost generation, who have identified

themselves with conflict and seek the earliestopportunity to take up arms against theirperceived enemies.98

C H I L D R E N W I T H D I S A B I L I T I E S

The issue of children with disabilities and educa-tion arose in the Treguine camp. The teachersdiscussed children who were blind, or who had

lost limbs; they told of how they are carried or ledby their siblings. The teachers asked that therebe some special care and educational tools forchildren who are disabled.99

E D U C AT I O N A N D T H E L O C A L

P O P U L A T I O NUNHCR sets aside 5 percent of its project budgetto provide education and other assistance toChadian villages surrounding the refugee camps.UNHCR and UNICEF are starting to consider thedevelopment of local community schools. UNICEFhas distributed some materials, furniture andcomposition books to local communities. It willwork with the World Food Program (WFP) todetermine whether school lunches can be provid-ed. Given that 60 schools surround 11 camps, thisis a very big undertaking for UNICEF.100

C U L T U R A L C H A N G E

If parents see that there is a good educationsystem, parents see that its worthwhile to sendchildren there.101

-- UNHCR staff member.

The many reasons that children, particularly girls,were not educated in Darfur were cited at thestart of the chapter. Four of the field workers

interviewed for this report discussed the need forsensitization among parents, teachers and healthprofessionals on the importance of universaleducation, as well as the cultural changes thatmay result from widespread education.102 It isevident from all the interviews conducted by theWomens Commission that education is a priorityamong women, girls, educational professionalsand community leaders.

The adviser for training teachers and Oxfamhealth programs said:

A lot is changing. Women are becoming stronger.I believe in equality, now we have the chance.Soon I hope that people can understand what awoman is, that they can become equal in law andrights. If we have a strong foundation of people,everyone can be happy. I encourage people to getideas through education. Start from the roots and

grow upwards. Some will continue to go to schoolafter a young marriage, but it is hard to balancesometimes.103


Spontaneousrefugees, like this

refugee woman,lived outsideFarchana campat the time of theWomensCommission visitand did not haveaccess to basicservices.


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R E C O M M E N DAT I O N S : E D U C AT I O N

This report has presented a significant list ofissues that need to be addressed in the context ofthe refugee situation in eastern Chad. Theyinclude:

GENERAL

Provide information as to why everyone benefitswhen children attend school.

Develop a system in the camps that discouragesearly marriage while following international law.

Encourage young married girls to attend school.

PHYSICAL SETTING

Semi-permanent classrooms need to be built toprotect students from heat, wind, rain and

sandstorms. Supplies, including textbooks, curriculum guides

from Sudan, pens, paper, pencils, blackboardsand sports equipment, and furniture should beprovided or restocked immediately.

Distribution times for food and other itemsshould be set so that they do not conflict withschool hours; this then would not be used as anexcuse for keeping girls out of school.

TEACHERS

Incentives for teachers should be discussed,negotiated and increased immediately.

Teacher training programs should be developedand implemented immediately; training andemploying female teachers at the primary andsecondary levels should be given the highest pri-ority.

Psychosocial training for all teachers should beundertaken.

English training for teachers should be madeavailable.

CURRICULUM

Curriculum and books from Sudan should bemade available.

Exams from Sudan should be available, as wellas teachers to provide pre-exam preparation andto deliver the tests.

The Sudanese curriculum should be updated toinclude the needs of girls.

Human rights education needs to be a centralcomponent of the curriculum.

Health education programs should beestablished.

SECONDARY SCHOOL

Secondary school, including semi-permanentclassrooms, supplies and teacher training,should begin immediately.

LITERACY

Literacy classes should be available for allrefugees regardless of age or gender.

ROLE OF THE UN

UNHCR and UNICEF should hire an educationstaff member from the start of an operation.

UNICEF/UNHCR should hire a long-termstaff member to make key decisions and solveproblems.

A mechanism is needed to ensure that theUN agency responsible for the provision ofeducation is fulfilling its responsibility, and aprocedure in place to change the lead agency ifit is not doing so.

OTHER RECOMMENDATIONS

Provisions should be made for children withdisabilities so that they can attend school on aregular basis.

Children arriving spontaneously should be ableto access education as close to the time of theirarrival as possible, regardless of registrationstatus.

Teacher/parent associations should beestablished for all schools in all camps.

A program of providing incentives to parents sothey send girls to school should be developedand implemented.

Early childcare centers should be established sothat young children have a safe, nurturing placeto go during the day, and so older girls are freeto attend school.

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The people interviewed during this mission statedthat, other than education, the most pressingproblems were lack of food and diminishing watersupplies.

In most of the camps, refugees talked about thelack of food; such reports were common in allsettings. In two camps women described the onesmall glass of sugar they received per month,stating that it was just not enough. A woman inthe Iridimi camp said:

Babies are dying of hunger, most infant deaths

are from lack of food. We need to make sure allchildren are identified to have better ration distri-bution, and we need a cart to carry the food.104

A woman in the Djabal camp said:

We had good land in Sudan. [President] Bashirkilled our men, our children, our fathers. Nowwe dont have anything. The NGOs give us 50

percent of what we need, thats all. I arrived preg-nant and miscarried from suffering in the camp.My daughter was killed in Darfur, my childrenwere beaten there. I have two children now.105

Water, especially in the north, is the most criticalissue for the sustainability of the camps, and is thekey to the ability to open desperately needed newcamps. According to the Minister of Social Action,Women and Families of the Chad government:

Women say water is a problem. Some have gonefor four days without cleaning themselves andthere has been no water for the children todrink.106

In the Farchana camp, water in one of the bore-holes dropped rapidly in December and water

allocation per person at the time of the WomensCommission visit was below Sphere standards,which is 15 liters per person per day107; this isexpected to get worse. The primary concern isthat in the near future half of the populationof the camp will be without water108 and thepopulation will have to be moved.

Water is trucked each day from Iridimi toAmnabak, because there is no water inAmnabak.109 In Bahai, there is rarely a queue forwater; however, the well is 2.5 miles outside of the

camp and it costs $40,000 per month to truckwater from the well to the camp.110 While it isthought that Treguine should have enough water,Breidjing could have problems due to overpopula-tion. These two camps have not operated in thedry season (through mid-September) so there wasno way to know whether the water would holdup.111

A representative from Oxfam said:

There is a need for proactive thinking on new

camp construction and water drilling. The campsare already overcrowded and unsustainable. Thereis a need for relocation of people from campsnow, never mind the new arrivals expected overthe coming year.112

He suggested that multiple drillings of bore holesat multiple sites needed to occur instead of thecurrent practice of drilling for water one bore holeat a time. Surveying and drilling takes twomonths. If no water is found, another two-month


ADDITIONAL FINDINGS

Water is scarce ineastern Chad andis a major con-cern in nearly allthe refugeecamps. Duringthe WomensCommission visit,the water rationin at least onecamp was wellbelow interna-

tional minimumstandards.


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process needs to start. Each hole costs about$100,000 from start to finish.113

Given that there have already been conflictsbetween the local community and the refugees, itwill be critical for new water sources to be foundfor both. The Oxfam representative said:

These are horrible situations for the refugees; thetensions and violence/gender violence will increaseexponentially if new sources of water and localesare not found.114

N E W C A M P S

There is a great need for new camps.Overpopulation, lack of water, tension with localvillagers, and proximity to the border have allbeen cited as reasons for either moving existing

camps like Oure Cassoni, or creating new campsto decrease overcrowding in camps like Breidjing.Many of the camps are over capacity by manythousands.

The first group of refugees was moved from theirtemporary homes near the Chad-Sudan border toUNHCRs new camp, Gaga, on May 2, 2005. Thecamp is located near Adre, about 40 miles fromAbeche. According to UNHCR, the refugees hadbeen living near the border for several months.UNHCR plans to move between 700 and 1,500

refugees still at the border to the camp. Another6,500 refugees from Farchana camp and 9,000from Breidjing campboth in the same areawillbe moved to the camp in the near future, UNHCRsays. The camp is designed to shelter 25,000refugees. Africare will manage the new camp,Oxfam will handle water and sanitation, andMdecins Sans Frontires (MSF)-Holland will pro-vide health services.115 UNHCR hopes to move themajority of the refugees to Gaga before the onsetof the rainy season, which can begin in April orMay.116

Relationships between local people and refugees inAdre are deteriorating; the harvest was poor, andprograms for villagers were not implemented. Tothe villagers, it seems as if the refugees are gettinga great deal while they have very little.117

Oure Cassoni is also overcrowded and, being onlytwo miles from the border with Sudan, many areconcerned that SLA fighters are moving in and outof the camp. A new camp for 100,000 people has

been suggested for Biltine; this would comprisefour satellite camps of 25,000 people each118; how-ever, water remains an issue. In addition to prob-lems with water availability, a number of politicalobstacles over the relocation of the camp havearisen.119

The final obstacle to the development of newcamps is that the refugees do not want to move.Even in Amnabak, where water has to be truckedin and the conditions are inhospitable, WomensCommission staff was told that people do notwant to leave.

R E G I S T R A T I O N 120

The Chad National Commission for RefugeeAssistance (CNAR), in conjunction with UNHCR,is registering refugees. Re-registration began at the

end of January 2005, and is continuing. UNHCRand the government of Chad will begin re-register-ing refugees utilizing the Project Profile systemthat captures a wider range of data than standardregistration, including:

the registration of all refugees

information on needs, repatriation orintegration

follow-up on population re: births, deaths, etc.

All information will be put into a database andwill be shared with the government of Chad, theWorld Food Program and implementing partners.Global registration is needed to identify people invulnerable situations so that specialized staff willwork with them in the second stage of the emer-gency. In stage two of Project Profile, a skilledinterviewer will be brought in to interview themost vulnerable. The government of Chad andUNHCR hope to complete the project by the endof April; however, implementing partners had not

been chosen at the time of the mission.

In addition to identification of the most vulnera-ble, re-registration is necessary because there wassome concern about local people moving in tocollect food. Re-registration will begin in the eastof the country and move to the south to includerefugees from the Central African Republic.

As of January 12, 2005, about 220,000 peoplehad been registered. It was reported that between

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4,000 and 5,000 spontaneous refugees wereunregistered; many of these people are living nearthe border to monitor their livestock. Gendarmesin the Mille camp report that from one to threespontaneous families arrive every week.121

One of the most troubling circumstances observedby staff of the Womens Commission was that ofunregistered refugees. Women in the Farchanacamp reported that they had been waiting fromtwo weeks to three months and were still notregistered. This meant that they were not able to

access services or receive rations.122 UNHCR staffreported that some of the new arrivals were fromthe local community looking for food, and somewere people who were moving back and forthacross the Sudan border, which led to somedisruption in the camps and possible moving ofrations over the border. These were cited as tworeasons that people had to wait for registration.123

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Education and Gender Biased

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