Top UN officials call for stronger humanitarian response in Chad

“I was profoundly touched by the plight of the women and children I met in the nutrition centre in N’Djamena today,” said Mr Lowcock, who heads up the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

Senior United Nations officials on Sunday called for stronger joint humanitarian and development interventions in Chad as the crisis-riven central African country as it tackles poverty, displacement, malnutrition, and lack of access to basic social services. Wrapping up their first joint visit in Chad, UN Development Programme (UNDP) Administrator Achim Steiner and UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Mark Lowcock visited a nutrition centre in the capital's Chad-China Friendship Hospital, where more than 16,000 children suffering from malnutrition are admitted annually.

"I was profoundly touched by the plight of the women and children I met in the nutrition centre in N'Djamena today," said Mr Lowcock, who heads up the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

While he commended the efforts and actions undertaken to deal with one of the biggest nutrition crises the people of Chad have faced, he stressed that the bigger challenge is to prevent children being in this position to start with.

"Humanitarian assistance can save lives, but the solution is development, economic progress and better livelihoods. The United Nations stands ready to support the Government, who must lead in this process," he said.

In N'Djamena, the two UN officials also met with senior Government representatives and parliamentarians and discussed plans for national development, poverty reduction, the regional situation, and the recent Lake Chad Basin Region conference in Berlin.