The Nobel Peace Prize winners Bishop Desmond Tutu and Shirin Ebadi, as well as 117 African human rights groups from 25 countries, called today for the government of Senegal and the African Union to move forward with the trial of Hissène Habré. The exiled former dictator of Chad is accused of thousands of political killings and systematic torture.

Chad reassured Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir that he had nothing to fear as he began a visit to the country Wednesday, despite being wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for crimes against humanity.

Chad should deny entry to Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir or arrest him for trial at the International Criminal Court should he visit the country, Human Rights Watch said today.  It has been widely reported in the media that al-Bashir is expected to travel to the Chadian capital N’djamena this week to attend a summit of the Community of Sahel-Saharan States.

The Nobel Peace Prize winners Bishop Desmond Tutu and Shirin Ebadi, as well as 117 African human rights groups from 25 countries, called today for  the government of Senegal and the African Union to move forward with the trial of  Hissène Habré.

Chad should deny entry to Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir or arrest him for trial at the International Criminal Court should he visit the country, Human Rights Watch said today. It has been widely reported in the media that al-Bashir is expected to travel to the Chadian capital N'djamena this week to attend a summit of the Community of Sahel-Saharan States.

The Nobel Peace Prize winners Bishop Desmond Tutu and Shirin Ebadi together with 117 African human rights groups from 25 countries have today called for the government of Senegal and the African Union to move forward with the trial of Hissène Habré.

Eastern Chad is well known as one of the most challenging settings for emergency relief in the world due to the spillover from Sudan's Darfur conflict and internal strife, but far less attention is being focused on western regions where 1.6 million people are facing crop failure and food shortages ahead of the October harvest, according to WFP and the government.

Eastern Chad is well known as one of the most challenging settings for emergency relief in the world due to the spillover from Sudan's Darfur conflict and internal strife, but far less attention is being focused on western regions where 1.6 million people are facing crop failure and food shortages ahead of the October harvest, according to WFP and the government.

Donors hope spirulina, a blue-green, protein-packed algae, labelled a "wonderful future food source" 45 years ago by the International Association of Microbiology, will deliver on its promise by the time a US$1.7 million cultivation project in Chad, funded by the European Union (EU), ends in December 2010.

One-third of sex workers interviewed in a recent survey by the Chad government thought mosquito bites or sharing a meal could spread HIV. Almost half the workers had been tested, but few had a clear understanding of the disease, with the most misinformation reported in the central and northern regions.

Paying members of an association of sex workers on Fitiné Island in Lake Chad were having a harder time making a living, said Hadjé Gomssou, 45, the association president. Although she has been widowed twice, she has never been tested for HIV. For years the fishing industry provided her with a steady stream of clients, but recently it has declined, and with it the sex trade.

The recently finalized multi-agency and governmental vulnerability assessment map (VAM) of Chad, covering more than 4,000 households in 212 villages from April to June 2009, analyzed factors contributing to the current food crisis triggered by a 2009 drought.

Water levels in Lake Chad have been steadily dropping for decades, causing propellers to snag vegetation and sputter in the shallows, and making it harder for people who live on the islands to reach life-saving healthcare.

Almost US$27 million - half from donor funds and the rest from the government - was invested in demining activities in Chad from 2000 to 2008, but the country still cannot identify the number and location of landmines. Efforts to clear at-risk communities have been hobbled by lack of money, mismanagement, delays distributing funds in the field, inappropriate equipment and tough terrain, say officials and international demining NGOs.

The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) discussed, on June 16, Chad’s second Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper–entitled National Poverty Reduction Strategy (NPRS II)–and a Joint IMF/World Bank Staff Advisory Note.

For decades, the government in Chad saw the environment as "the white man's problem" said Minister of Environment, Hassan Térap. "For so long, it was a problem for rich countries, but now our land has been denuded, cattle are dying, water is shrinking, it is our problem too," the minister told IRIN.

The Sahelian belt of Chad is facing one of its worst nutrition crises in recent years.

Lawyers of the former Chadian dictator Hissene Habre, have rejected the use of foreign funding to organise the trial of their client.

The construction of the Trans-Saharan road and installation of a gas pipeline in the Sahara region were highlighted Tuesday in Luanda by the Algerian ambassador to Angola, Kamel Boughaba, as one of the levers for the African continent, under the New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD).

Finding clean water is as difficult for people living on the islands in Lake Chad as it is for their neighbours along the shores. "Since 1963, the surface area of Lake Chad has decreased from approximately 25,000 sq km to 1,350 sq km," according to the UN Environment Programme (UNEP).