Lake Chad
Chad (02/05)
Lake Chad is the second-largest lake in West Africa and is one of the most important wetlands on the continent. Home to 120 species of fish and at least that many species of birds, the lake has shrunk dramatically in the last four decades due to the increased water use and low rainfall. Bordered by Chad, Niger, Nigeria, and Cameroon, Lake Chad currently covers only 1,350 square kilometers, down from 25,000 square kilometers in 1963. The Chari and Logone Rivers, both of which originate in the Central African Republic and flow northward, provide most of the water entering Lake Chad. ... [Read More]
Chad
In January, Souleymane Guengueng, founder of the Chadian Association of Victims of Political Repression and Crime, was fired from his position with the Lake Chad Basin Commission. Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported that the Commission took the measure in reprisal for his campaign to record and publicize the abuses of former president Hissene Habre and to bring criminal proceedings against members of the Habre regime. In May, Bandala Tchatcho Pierre, president of the Kelo branch of the LTDH, was arrested at the request of the prefect of Kelo after criticizing the complicity of administrative and military authorities in intercommunity conflicts. He was released without charge after a short detention. In June, the sub-prefect of the southern town of Krim-Krim made a death threat against Ahmat Macky Outman, a member of the Chadian Human Rights League, after Outman criticized human rights abuses committed by the sub-pref ... [Read More]
Chad
In 2001 the Minister of Interior formally banned the Islamic religious group Faid al-Djaria (also spelled Faydal Djaria), a Sufi group that adheres to a mystical form of Islam. The group arrived in the country from Nigeria and Senegal and incorporates singing and dancing into its religious ceremonies and activities. Male and female members of the group freely interact with one another during religious gatherings. The group is found from the Kanem region around Lake Chad into neighboring Chari Baguirmi. Acting at the request of the Director of Religious and Traditional Affairs, the Superior Council for Islamic Affairs, and certain ulama (Muslim religious authorities) who objected to Faid al-Djaria's religious customs that they deemed un-Islamic, particularly that both men and women sang and danced with each other, the Interior Ministry declared that the group lacked the proper authorization to practice. According to a Faid al-Djaria member, part of the Council's objection derives from a ... [Read More]
Women at the Well
Women from the village of Mamdi in the Lake Chad region take turn at a borehole water well. Only 27% of Chad's population have access to a controlled water source. (Photo taken Feb 9, 2004 by Embassy N'Djamena Coordinator Les Mcbride) ... [Read More]
US Department Of State Post Report
Lake Chad is the second-largest lake in west Africa and is one of the most important wetlands on the continent. Home to 120 species of fish and at least that many species of birds, the lake has shrunk dramatically in the last 4 decades due to the increased water use and low rainfall. Bordered by Chad, Niger, Nigeria and Cameroon, Lake Chad currently covers only 1,350 square km. down from 25,000 square km. in 1963. The Chari and Logone Rivers, both of which originate in the Central African Republic and flow northward, provide most of the water entering Lake Chad. ... [Read More]
International Religious Freedom Report 2002: Chad
In September 2001, the Minister of Interior formally banned the Islamic religious group Faid al-Djaria (also spelled Faydal Djaria), a Sufi group that adheres to a mystical form of Islam. The group arrived in the country from Nigeria and Senegal and incorporates singing and dancing into its religious ceremonies and activities. Male and female members of the group freely interact with one another during religious gatherings. The group is found from the Kanem region around Lake Chad into neighboring Chari Baguirmi. Acting at the request of the Director of Religious and Traditional Affairs, the Superior Council for Islamic Affairs, and certain ulama (Muslim religious authorities) who objected to Faid al-Djaria's religious customs that they deemed un-Islamic, particularly that both men and women sang and danced with each other, the Interior Ministry declared that the group lacked the proper authorization to practice. According to a Faid al-Djaria member, part of the Council's objection der ... [Read More]
Central African Republic (06/05)
The C.A.R. appears to have been settled from at least the 7th century on by overlapping empires, including the Kanem-Bornou, Ouaddai, Baguirmi, and Dafour groups based in Lake Chad and the Upper Nile. Later, various sultanates claimed present-day C.A.R, using the entire Oubangui region as a slave reservoir, from which slaves were traded north across the Sahara and to West Africa for export by European traders. Population migration in the 18th and 19th centuries brought new migrants into the area, including the Zande, Banda, and Baya-Mandjia. ... [Read More]
Reports, International Education Week 2001
Big Bend Community College (Moses Lake) ... [Read More]
Treaties in Force 2002 Index
AppendixTable of ContentsPART 1: BILATERAL TREATIES AND OTHER AGREEMENTS [Read More]
Department of State Washington File: Text: U.N. Report Says Africa Will Be Most Affected by Global Warming
"In Africa's large catchment basins of Niger, Lake Chad and Senegal, total available water has decreased by 40 to 60 per cent," says the report. ... While heavy rains will become more frequent, the report warns that there will also be rising levels of drought and the spread of deserts, such as the Sahara. It says the total water available from Africa's large basins of Niger, Lake Chad and Senegal has decreased 40 to 60 percent. ... The Zambesi, for example, is to be diverted towards the south, sending surplus water into regions where water is scarce. Other cooperative flood planning envisages using one country's lakes to store some of a river's floodwaters, reducing the flood peak and destruction in countries downstream. ... [Read More]
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