Militias based in Darfur are launching cross-border raids on villages in Chad on an almost daily basis, killing civilians, burning villages, and stealing cattle in a pattern of attacks that show signs of ethnic bias, according to Human Rights Watch. Human Rights Watch researchers documented numerous cross-border attacks on Chadian villages along the border between Adré, Adé, and Modoyna in eastern Chad since early December 2005. Most of the attacks were by Sudanese and Chadian militiamen from Darfur, some with apparent Sudanese government backing, including helicopter gunship support.

More than 220,000 Sudanese from Darfur have fled the ongoing violence in their region and crossed the border into the desert of eastern Chad. Most of the refugees are now in camps; however, several thousand remain outside camps, waiting to be registered. With the crisis continuing, it is estimated that many more refugees will flee to eastern Chad. In the midst of this crisis is the education and reproductive health of adolescent girls being neglected?

Chad's parliamentarians have voted to extend their own terms in office by over a year, saying the cash-strapped country cannot hold legislative elections along with the presidential poll later this year as scheduled. But opposition politicians say the law – introduced by President Idriss Deby’s cabinet – is a deliberate move by Deby to keep close allies in the government in troubled times.

The government of Sudan and its Janjaweed militia allies are massing a greater number of troops in the El Geneina vicinity along the border with Chad, according to the website of Damanga, a coalition for freedom and democracy. "Despite having witnessed more than two years of internal conflict with massive civilian abuse, six different individuals communicated with Damanga during the past week and reported further violence against civilians."

UNHCR has reported that Sudanese refugees are again fleeing Darfur for camps in neighbouring eastern Chad, while High Commissioner António Guterres warned the UN Security Council in New York of a "much greater calamity" in the region unless bold measures are taken soon. The UN refugee agency chief noted that the insecurity in Darfur has now spread across the border to Chad, where last Friday armed rebels took several government officials hostage and attacked the village of Guéréda, where the UN refugee agency is caring for more than 25,000 Sudanese refugees in two camps.

Chad's National Assembly has asked the government to close an offshore oil account the World Bank had ordered frozen in a dispute, and said it should consider breaking ties with the global lender "if necessary". The request, contained in a resolution passed by the Chadian parliament, signalled a hardening of Chad's position in its continuing row with the World Bank over changes made by President Idriss Deby's government to an oil revenue law. The dispute is linked to the bank's biggest investment on the continent, a $3.7 billion oil pipeline built and operated by a consortium led by US oil major Exxon Mobil Corp.

A Chadian rebel leader on Wednesday said insurgents seeking to oust President Idriss Deby have ‘friendly’ relations with Sudan and have met on Sudanese soil, but are receiving no arms or other assistance from Khartoum, as charged by N’Djamena. Abdelwahid Aboud Makaye, a leader of the newly formed United Front for Change and Democracy (FUC), said in an interview with Radio France Internationale that some meetings sealing the group’s formation in late December were held in El Geneina in Darfur, western Sudan.

More than 220,000 Sudanese from Darfur have fled the ongoing violence in their region and crossed the border into the desert of eastern Chad. Most of the refugees are now in camps; however, several thousand remain outside camps, waiting to be registered. With the crisis continuing, it is estimated that many more refugees will flee to eastern Chad. In the midst of this crisis is the education and reproductive health of adolescent girls being neglected?

We are asking for your urgent help in persuading the African Union to recommend the extradition of the former Chadian dictator Hissène Habré to Belgium, where he is now wanted to stand trial on charges of crimes against humanity, war crimes and torture. The President of Senegal, Abdoulaye Wade, has asked the Summit of the African Union (Khartoum, 23-24 January 2006) to recommend "the competent jurisdiction" for the trial of Mr. Habré.

The World Bank's decision to suspend loans to Chad after the country said it would divert revenues from an oil project intended to alleviate poverty is a symbolic gesture that dodges meaningful action by the Bank in similar mining, oil and gas projects, watchdog groups say. Last week, the Washington-based public lender made good on threats to suspend 124 million dollars in loans to Chad, one of the world's poorest nations, after the government amended a law that controls the country's oil revenues, against the Bank's repeated advice.

Sudan joined Chad on Tuesday (January 10) in offering to open talks to defuse mounting tension along their joint border, but the two sides still appeared far apart. At the weekend, Chad said it was ready to talk to Sudan but only if Khartoum agreed to a set of conditions, including the disarmament of Chadian rebels N’djamena claims are operating on the Sudanese side of the border.

Chad's President Idriss Deby urged the United Nations on Wednesday to take control of Sudan's volatile Darfur region because he said Khartoum was using the conflict there to destabilise neighbouring states. Deby, who faces threats from rebel attacks on Chad's eastern frontier with Sudan and from army desertions at home, made the call during a meeting of central African leaders which he convened in N'Djamena to discuss tensions with Khartoum.

Chad has reacted angrily to warnings from the World Bank, after its parliament voted to relax controls on the use of its oil revenues. The government has accused the World Bank of acting like a coloniser. The body lent Chad more than $39m (£23m) to build a pipeline with an estimated total cost of almost $4bn. It was on condition that Chad's churches, trade unions and non-governmental organisations monitored how oil revenues were spent.

The World Bank has “serious concerns” about the Chad government’s plan to do away with a special fund that safeguards petrodollars for future generations, the institution said. The trust fund was among innovative socio-economic measures required by the World Bank in return for financing part of a vast pipeline from Chad to the Atlantic Ocean off Cameroon. But the Chad government says it needs to tap into the petrodollars now to tackle a financial crisis and bolster security in the country.

The purpose of this position is to support effective implementation of the technical aspects of Oxfam's public health response in eastern Chad; to promote gender equity throughout the programme cycle and provide gender analysis to support the implementation of Oxfam's programme.

The World Bank's bombast about good governance, corruption and reducing poverty is a farce. In reality, the World Bank is supporting an oil pipeline project that allows a notorious dictator to fill his pockets and thumb his nose at the world. Meanwhile, the people of Chad are bleeding themselves dry to repay a monumental debt without enjoying the fruits of a natural resource that is rightly theirs, says this article from the website of the Committee for the Abolition of the Third World Debt.

The Universal Ratification Campaign is a worldwide complementary effort devoted to urging members to redouble their efforts to promote universal acceptance of the International Criminal Court. Local actions are needed to promote awareness of the International Criminal Court; increase media coverage; urge governments to ratify or accede to the Rome Statute; adopt effective implementing legislation and ratify the ICC Agreement on Privileges and Immunities.

We ask you to visit our Ratification Campaign page where you can send a letter to the President of Chad urging Chad to ratify the Rome Statute.

This CICC Ratification Campaign page on Chad is accessible at the following link (and also in French: http://www.iccnow.org/francais/ActionCalendar.htm).

Sudan continues to provide arms and logistical support to Chadian rebels, despite several appeals by the Chadian government, President Idriss Deby said on Monday. “We have proof. The Sudanese government has armed [rebels], put vehicles at their disposal, given them logistics and communications materials,” Deby told Radio France Internationale. “The Sudanese government is complicit.”

International aid groups last Thursday called on the World Bank and other donors to suspend support for Chad if the government changes a law that ensures oil profits from a major oil pipeline benefit the poor, reports Reuters. In a statement, Oxfam America, Bank Information Center, Environmental Defense and Friends of the Earth France said Chad should explain its current liquidity crisis, which has prompted the planned change to the World Bank-backed revenue management law. They also called for an independent audit of the country's public finances, as well as steps to improve transparency and efficiency of the budget system.

Vowing defiance in the wake of a series of incidents that may have loosened his grip on power, Chad’s President Idriss Deby has removed members of his own ethnic group from the military’s top posts. Speaking on Wednesday (November 16) to hundreds of supporters gathered outside the presidential palace, an embattled Deby pledged to stand firm despite recent desertions and attacks on the military.