Eastern Chad is home to more than 300,000 refugees from the Darfur region of Sudan who fled their homes beginning in 2003. Thousands of refugees have been living disbursed among twelve camps in eastern Chad for over a decade. As refugees in one of the poorest countries in the world, children and young people continue to struggle to gain access to a quality education. 

In a protracted situation like Chad, where refugees have little hope of returning home or being resettled to a third country, opportunities to integrate and contribute to the local community are essential. JRS has worked in Chad since 2006 and is one of the biggest missions of JRS globally, focused on education, child protection, and advocacy.

JRS is leading the education sector in Chad with the largest number of beneficiaries. Its expertise is recognized within the sector, where it serves as a co-facilitator of the Education Cluster. Together with UNHCR and BPRM, JRS implements a wide array of educative projects, from pre-school and nurseries in high schools to primary and secondary education, including classroom construction.

Additionally, JRS maintains very good relations with the local authorities and direct access to the Minister of Education. This relationship has led to the integration of the camps’ schools in the Chadian public education system. Furthermore, JRS has developed a critical partnership with the university in Abéché, where refugee students are studying to earn their national teacher certifications.

With the ONG Entreculturas, JRS Chad participates in the Luz de las Niñas Campaign since 2019. This advocacy project aims to give visibility to the different difficulties faced by refugee and local girls in the country and to offer an opportunity for expression to thousands of girls.

Since 2020, JRS has been extending its operations to the Chad Lac region, with an MHM project funded by UNICEF.