Chad is a landlocked country with an area of 1.25 million km² and a population of 9 million. It is very poor (GDP per capita is US$312) with a low Human Development Index rating (171^st of 177 in 2006), never having experienced a long period of stability.

The situation within the country has deteriorated significantly since 2003 owing to the war in Darfur. Chad has been weakened, as it is faced with rebel movements in Sudan and an intensification of violence between ethnic groups.

Key issues in EU-Chad relations

The 10^th European Development Fund (EDF 2008-2013) programme in Chad aims to support good management of public services and national security in order to encourage a cycle of sustainable economic growth and a reduction of poverty. With this in mind, € 311 M has been allocated to the programme.

This programme focuses on two main areas. The first priority is to support good governance in the fields of physical and juridicial security, public finances, democratic processes and institutions, decentralisation and, more generally, local governance.

To support the key objective of reducing poverty and encouraging economic development, in particular by improving the absorption capacity of petrol revenue, the 10^th European Development Fund (EDF 2008-2013) has made sustainable development, based on infrastructure and the agricultural sector, its second priority.

In an environment where peace and reconciliation are in the balance, and efforts aimed at ensuring economic recovery and the development of the region of eastern Chad is vital, the EU is playing an active role in managing the humanitarian crisis, with 250,000 Sudanese refugees and 170,000 Chadians displaced within their own country (in the border area with Darfur to the east). The Commission is assisting as far as it can the implementation of Resolution 1778 (2007) and is supporting the deployment of the multi-dimensional EUFOR/MINURCAT (United Nations Mission in the Central African Republic and Chad) operation in the east of Chad and the north-east of the Central African Republic through programmes aimed at integrated rehabilitation and re-launching development.

The petroleum revenues which began to come on stream from 2004, and their strong growth in 2006 and 2007, has enabled a government struggling with an economic, political and social crisis to successfully fight the rebellion and make itself more open to negotiation. It has also made it easier to gain the support of opposition parties. Chad has succeeded, thanks to the help of the European Commission among others, in resolving its dispute with the World Bank on the management of petroleum revenues, agreeing to commit 70% of these receipts to social expenditure. Chad is undertaking major infrastructure projects, notably road building and soon large social projects. While these major projects are to be welcomed, the IMF (International Monetary Fund) has expressed concern with the scale of works as the ministries charged with undertaking the projects have insufficient absorption capacity.