Republic of Chad

As in all IBC project countries, alcohol is one of the biggest obstacles to sustainable development in the Republic of Chad. With high urbanisation pressure, many African societies are at risk for rising alcohol consumption rates. The Republic of Chad, the fifth largest country in Africa, hereby has a particularly high rate of alcohol consumption. On the one hand, 70 per cent of the population is abstinent. However, on the other hand, the remaining population’s consumption of 33.9 litres of pure alcohol annually makes it the country with the highest per capita rate in the world. Since 2013, IBC and Blue Cross Chad, therefore, have conducted the Life Skills and Peer Education Programme with vulnerable youth. Prevention activities include young motor taxi drivers. They are among the most severely affected and at the same time a “difficult to reach”-youth group. Denied the opportunity of early education, they lack perspectives and are especially exposed to the dangers of alcohol and drug abuse. Currently, activities mainly take place in the capital N´Djamena, with expansion developing to further regions. As in our programme in the Republic of Congo, IBC and the local Blue Cross are taking part in a working group promoting the inclusion of the Life Skills and Peer Education Programme into the public school curriculum.