Chad Little

From 1998 to 2003, Chadian Movement for Justice and Democracy (MDJT) rebels skirmished periodically with government troops in the Tibesti region, resulting in hundreds of civilian, government, and rebel casualties, but little ground won or lost. Following an accord with the government in 2003, several hundred rebels rejoined the Chadian Army. Armed remnants of the MDJT linger in the Tibesti region, but no active armed opposition has emerged in other parts of Chad. ...

War and rebellions have tapered off in recent years. Following Idriss Deby's rise to power, Habre loyalists continued to fight government troops and rob civilians around Lake Chad. In the mid- and late-1990s, a rebellion in the south by the FARF delayed the promised oil development until crushed by government forces. Most recently, The Movement for Democracy and Justice in Tchad (MDJT) launched the most serious threat to Deby's hold on power, but little progress was ever made on either side. In January 2002, the government and the MDJT signed a formal peace accord. Although remnants are still present in the North, active rebellion has been negligible since late 2003. ... [Read More]

Chad

In 2002, UNICEF estimated that there were approximately 10,000 street children, and in April, the newspaper Le Temps reported the number was increasing. According to the article, the children were on the streets because either one or both parents have died, or because parents simply do not want to take care of them. Child labor remained a problem (see Section 6.d.). During the year, there were several programs to help children, including efforts to curb the widespread use of child herders in the south of the country. In April, UNICEF trained representatives from 35 NGOs to work with networks of parents, herders, and schools in the south to ensure that children had access to free education. In urban areas, UNICEF and other NGOs worked to educate homeless children and reintegrate them into their families or other social support networks. Persons with Disabilities [Read More]

V. Country Narratives -- Countries A through G

Bolivia is a source and transit country for men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of forced labor and sexual exploitation to neighboring South American countries, through Spain to Western Europe, and to Japan and the United States. Children are trafficked internally for sexual exploitation, and forced mining and agricultural labor. Poverty forces thousands of Bolivians to migrate or work in sub-standard conditions, thus placing large numbers at risk of being trafficked. Thousands of children travel from poor rural to urban areas and fall victim to trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation. Bolivian workers have been trafficked to sweatshops in Argentina and Brazil, and to Chile for involuntary servitude. Illegal migrants from countries outside the region transit Bolivia; some may be trafficking victims. Unregulated land borders facilitate land-based trafficking between Bolivia and ... [Read More]

Chad

The Labor Code ended long-standing legal restrictions on trade union rights; however, there were reports that a 1962 ordinance requiring prior authorization from the Ministry of the Interior before an association can be formed still was in force. The ordinance also allowed for the immediate administrative dissolution of an association and permitted the authorities to oversee associations' funds. The Government allegedly applied this law to unions on several occasions despite assurances that only the Labor Code would govern the unions; there were no reports of such action during the year. The International Labor Organization (ILO) Committee of Experts has cited the Government for its denial of the right to establish an organization without prior approval. The Committee noted that Ordinance No 27 regulating associations subjects the establishment of associations to the Ministry of the Interior who had extensive power to oversee the management under penalty of dissolution. [Read More]

Chad

Some children worked as domestic servants in the households of relatives for little compensation. Some young girls were forced into marriages by their families and then forced to work in their husbands' fields or homes and to bear children while they were still too young to do so safely (see Section 5). ...

During the year, there were reports that in the southern part of the country, families contracted out their children to Arab nomadic herders to help care for their animals, and the children often were abused and returned with little financial compensation for their work. There were also credible reports that children were forced into slavery. According to a U.N. news service, during the year, aid workers in the country estimated that families have sold as many as 2,000 children--some as young as 8--into a system of slavery in which they worked as "child cattle herders." ... [Read More]

US Department Of State Post Report

Other housing at post is a mix of government-owned (two properties), Long-Term Lease (a six-unit residential compound adjacent to the American School) and Short-Term Lease. Houses are built of cement, brick, tile, and plaster. Since wood is scarce and deteriorates rapidly, little is used. Most window and doorframes are locally fabricated metal; floors are linoleum or ceramic tile. Patios are brick or cement, and cupboards are usually masonry and tile. Construction standards are poor and interior design (kitchens, for example) is often inconvenient. Over the past several years, however, the Embassy has made substantial improvements in its housing pool. ... [Read More]

UN Press Conference

GARVELINK: First of all, in all honestly, the numbers of 50,000 or 30,000 killed is somebody’s guess. Those numbers usually refer to those killed in conflict. And I have no idea if that is true or not. This isn’t too helpful, I know. The numbers we use we put together in April and we have a graph that will show mortality rates. It is based on the analysis of epidemiologists from the Centers for Disease Control and epidemiologists from USAID who went back and historically looked at the conditions in Darfur in terms of population, security, how long the rains would last and geographic conditions. We projected that from April to the end of this year, if there is no access to those IDP settlements you’ll have over 300,000 people die. If there is full and open access, there will be about 80,000 people who will die as a result of the humanitarian crisis in Darfur right now, not due to war wounds. What we have seen from all the reports that are coming out by the ... [Read More]

Post Nairobi Summit: Perspectives on Global Policies to End the Landmine Crisis

While the Ottawa Convention allow signatories to retain large and deadly AVL, but many technologically advanced countries have chosen to interpret their Ottawa commitments to allow the use of sensitive fuzes and/or anti-handling devices affixed to these mines – making them as or more dangerous than APL. Many of these same countries retain mines with little to no metal content, making them all but undetectable to deminers and ensuring their long-term threat to innocents. By contrast, the United States has again taken a forward-leaning position by eliminating all such non-detectable mines from its active inventory. ... [Read More]

Global Poverty - Economic Perspectives - September 2001 - State Department

Sources: The World Bank, World Development Indicators 2001, and idem, The Little Data Book 2001. Back to top | Economic Perspectives, September 2001 - Contents | IIP E-Journals | IIP Home ...

Sources: The World Bank, World Development Indicators 2001, and idem, The Little Data Book 2001. ... [Read More]

Department of State Washington File: Transcript: State Department Noon Briefing, March 12

QUESTION: We just had a little inter -- a little exchange on women's rights in Iraq and how pleased you all are that women are -- women's rights are improving in Iraq. And here's the U.S. voting against family planning and there are a lot of people who would argue that family planning should be something that women -- that protect -- that family planning is a protection of women's rights. ...

MR. BOUCHER: I -- it kind of reminds me of the Bangkok conference last year where it took us all a little while to sort out exactly who said what. But it was -- this Administration has a very clear policy on family planning. Doesn't come as any surprise to anybody. It's be enunciated again and again. We take that position at conferences. It has not stood in the way of our international cooperation on family planning. It's not stood in the way of our considerable funding of family planning activities around the world and our continued support for women's health and for family planning activities and for education activities and for fighting the AIDS virus and HIV around the world. ... [Read More]