VZCZCXRO9746
RR RUEHBC RUEHBZ RUEHDE RUEHDH RUEHDU RUEHGI RUEHJO RUEHKUK RUEHMA
RUEHMR RUEHPA RUEHRN RUEHROV RUEHTRO
DE RUEHNJ #0476/01 2990809
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 260809Z OCT 09
FM AMEMBASSY NDJAMENA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7353
INFO RUEHZO/AFRICAN UNION COLLECTIVE
RUEHEE/ARAB LEAGUE COLLECTIVE
RUCNFUR/DARFUR COLLECTIVE
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RHMFISS/HQ USAFRICOM STUTTGART GE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 NDJAMENA 000476 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR AF/C, S/USSES, PRM/AFR 
NSC FOR GAVIN 
LONDON FOR POL - LORD 
PARIS FOR POL - BAIN AND KANEDA 
ADDIS ABABA ALSO FOR AU 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAID PGOV PHUM SOCI PREL PREF CD SO
SUBJECT: UNICEF IN CHAD:  CHILD SOLDIERS, MALNUTRITION, AND 
OTHER CHALLENGES 
 
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SUMMARY 
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¶1.  (SBU) UNICEF's Deputy Executive Director briefed 
Ambassador October 19 on UNICEF's main challenges in Chad in 
coming months.  Johnson addressed child-soldiers in Chad, 
saying that UNICEF is working with the GOC ministries of 
Defense, Interior, and Social Affairs on child soldiers in 
the Chadian armed forces, in rebel groups operating from 
Chad, and rebel groups operating against Chad from Sudan. 
The GOC had turned over for demobilization some 800-1,000 
child soldiers - all from rebel groups - in 2009, although 
few few girls were among them; and UNICEF had not been able 
to work with non-state actors such as anti-GoC rebel forces 
still operating in Sudan.  She underlined that UNICEF's next 
focus would be the children within the Chadian armed forces. 
She emphasized that eastern Chad is moving away from a 
"conflict-driven crisis" toward a more "sustainable" phase, 
although resource constraints and criminality would continue 
to be a part of that equation.  She highlighted the emerging 
problem of persistent malnutrition in western Chad emerging 
in the next six months, particularly the area of Kanem and 
polio-eradication efforts. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Embassy officers continue to bring up the issue of 
child-soldiers in Chadian forces at every opportunity with 
our GOC interlocutors and other diplomatic missions, urging 
the GOC to make greater efforts to collaborate with UNICEF 
and MINURCAT to identify child soldiers in government ranks 
and to remove them from any role, whether armed or unarmed, 
in military or police contexts.  END SUMMARY. 
 
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AFTER THE CRISIS - 
STILL CHALLENGES 
------------------ 
 
¶3.  (SBU) UNICEF Deputy Executive Director Hilde Frafjord 
Johnson and Country Representative Marzio Babille briefed 
Ambassador Oct 19 on the results Johnson's week-long visit to 
Chad.  Johnson had spent the week in western Chad, in the 
areas of Kanem and Moussoro, the location of a child soldier 
demobilization center; had toured the Eastern Chad camps for 
refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs); traveled to 
southern Chad in the area of relatively new population 
movements around Daha and Haraze; and met with key 
ministerial partners.  She briefed on UNICEF's child 
protection mandate and her findings in Chad. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Johnson said that UNICEF shared growing sense that 
eastern Chad had ceased to fall into the "crisis/emergency" 
category and was now in the "sustainable" situation category. 
 She said UNICEF was discussing strategies to link this 
transition from crisis to a more developmenmtally-oriented 
approach to the provision of services in the east, while 
working on pre-positioning supplies for "the next crisis - 
which we know is coming" in an area where drought-induced 
conflict over scarce resources is endemic.  She said UNICEF 
at the same time would be widening focus to ensure other 
regions of Chad where child survival challenges were cropping 
up are receiving appropriate investment, especially in the 
western/Sahelian Kanem region, where rising malnutrition 
rates threatened to hit children and women hard.  She noted 
very poor rains over the last months, requiring a 
comprehensive intervention program, with malnutrition as the 
priority. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Ms. Johnson stated that UNICEF was also focusing on 
a rise in polio risk in Chad (in partnership with USAID), and 
would expand its own capacity in Chad, working with the 
Ministry of Health (MoH).  She stressed that these challenges 
especially needed more investment from the Government of Chad 
(GoC), and asked that Ambassador help in safeguarding current 
and future budgetary appropriations for health-related 
activities.  Johnson noted that the newly pointed Minister of 
Health, while a medical doctor by training, appeared to have 
no significant experience in management or public 
administration.  She speculated that he may find himself 
pitted against entrenched interest groups in various MoH 
departments, based on kinship or geographically-determined 
 
NDJAMENA 00000476  002 OF 002 
 
 
alliances.  Johnson said UNICEF is trying to present a 
unified message to all groups within the ministry, and hoped 
for USG support in promoting a cohesive response to health 
needs in Chad. 
 
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CHILDREN IN ARMED CONFLICT IN CHAD 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Ms. Johnson recalled that UNICEF has worked under 
child protection mandates of two UNSCRs - 1612, 1882.  She 
noted that child recruitment into armed conflict and the 
USG-driven UNSCR 1888 on sexual violence against children in 
conflict are new triggers for UNICEF intervention, with theQdate to conduct the field monitoring work for all aspects 
of child protection.  She noted that, with these additional 
areas of international focus, the UN SYG had created and 
would soon name a new SRSG for sexual violence. 
 
¶7.  (SBU) According to Johnson, UNICEF is working with 
Defense, Interior, and Social Affairs on the issue of child 
soldiers in both the Chadian armed forces and in rebel groups 
operating from Chad or against Chad.  The GOC had turned over 
for demobilization some 800-1,000 child soldiers - all from 
rebel groups - in 2009.  Unfortunately, few girls were turned 
over (although many were exploited in rebel and government 
military forces); and UNICEF had not been able to work with 
non-state actors such as anti-GoC rebel forces still 
operating in Sudan.  Ms. Johnson noted that demobilized 
children would require better monitoring after they had 
graduated from their rehabilitation period and gone home. 
She said UNICEF's next focus would be the children she 
believes are present within the Chadian armed forces. 
 
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GENDER AND SEXUALLY-BASED 
VIOLENCE IN CHAD 
--------------------------- 
 
¶8.  (SBU) Ms. Johnson called attention to the UN's nascent 
Sexual Violence Reporting Mechanism, stating that the 
international community needed to be more aggressive in 
pursuing information on violations, and in publicizing 
findings.  She noted that recent reports on the subject have 
led some to conclude that refugee camps are the problem, 
whereas in reality many in the GoC as "in complete denial" 
about the pervasiveness of gender and sexually-based violence 
in Chad, regardless of refugee populations.  She said 
concerted effort would be needed to break through the wall of 
denial. 
 
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COMMENT 
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¶9.  (SBU) Embassy officers continue to bring up the issue of 
child-soldiers in Chadian forces at every opportunity with 
our GOC interlocutors and other diplomatic missions, urging 
the GOC to make greater efforts to collaborate with UNICEF 
and MINURCAT to identify child soldiers in government ranks 
and to remove them from any role, whether armed or unarmed, 
in military or police contexts, and urging other diplomatic 
missions to do the same. 
NIGRO