Football for Development: Challenges and opportunities in Iriba, Chad

With the essential support of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the camps are managed by the National Commission for the Reception and Reintegration of Refugees (CNARR), the government partner responsible for refugee issues. Despite limited resources, the CNARR and UNHCR have always emphasized the importance of sport in the refugee camps. Furthermore, other important organizations such as the Confederation of African Football and the Chadian Football Federation could also play a role in supporting the Iriba department, given the shared interest in football among Chadians and Sudanese.

The Republic of Chad has faced years of instability, heavily impacting its most vulnerable populations. The eastern part of the country, particularly the towns of Adré, Abéché, and Iriba, are particularly affected by the fragile security situation in Sudan, particularly in the Darfur region, where intercommunal conflicts exacerbate underdevelopment.

Despite the various crises that have occurred over the past twenty years, the funding allocated has not been sufficient to meet identified humanitarian needs. The table below illustrates this trend by providing an analysis of financial support for coordinated humanitarian response plans.

The city of Iriba

Despite facing socioeconomic, political, and security challenges, Chad is a major host country for over one million refugees (UN News, 2025), with whom limited water and food resources are shared. In a country where growing needs have been insufficiently funded over the past twenty years, Executive Order 14619 signed by President Trump on January 20 and the subsequent decision by the British government to cut humanitarian aid (BBC, 2025) have only exacerbated the suffering of those living on the brink.

Located in northeastern Chad, about 70 kilometers from the troubled Darfur region, the town of Iriba represents a striking example of a regional imbalance. As of September 2024, the department of Iriba registered 125,437 Sudanese refugees, some of whom had been there since 2003. Before 2003, the department had only about 5,000 inhabitants. The Sudanese refugee camps established in Iriba since 2003 are only growing larger.

For several years, the United Nations (UN) has been discussing the need to diversify funding sources, whether for emergency aid or long-term projects, since the majority of government contributions actually came from a small group of UN member states. Twelve countries provided 65% of the total contributions, with the United States being the largest contributor (UN, 2019).

Diversification of the partnership

The development and humanitarian financing landscape in Chad reveals an urgent need for diversification. Traditional funding sources, such as international aid and government grants, have proven insufficient to meet the growing demands of humanitarian and development projects. As Chad, among many other African countries, strives to achieve sustainable development goals, dependence on a narrow range of funding sources poses a risk to its long-term growth and stability.

Football-related funds and initiatives concentrated in major cities

Rightly considered by the UN as an important platform to support the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, the role of sport in Chad's development remains an opportunity that must be better utilized. It is certainly naive to focus solely on sport to help the country address its many social challenges. The positive impact of football can be felt in various areas, well beyond a group of boys and girls chasing a ball. In this perspective, the "Football in Schools" project, initiated by FIFA in Chad in May 2023, offers an opportunity for development through football. However, initiatives related to this project remain confined to the capital, N'Djamena, and the city of Moundou, located in the south of the country. On the other hand, in localities such as Iriba and Adré, the lack of resources hinders the implementation of social cohesion and child protection activities.

The table shows that 100% of the budget for operational costs, travel, and sports equipment was used. However, only 43% of the funds allocated to projects were spent, preventing Chad from spending an additional USD 2.4 million allocated by FIFA between 2016 and 2022.

For the 3rd cycle of the FIFA Forward project (2023-2026), the following amounts have already been defined:

The amounts allocated to each Confederation or Regional Association are listed below:

Conclusion

Sporting performances and results achieved in football are the result or reflection of everything that is done at the grassroots of the sport (i.e. the teaching and practice of football in clubs, academies and, above all, in schools). They therefore require all the attention, care, partnerships and institutional investments in material, technological and, above all, human resources, so that football can develop adequately. It is therefore not surprising that Chad does not demonstrate sporting performances that match the country's passion for football, due to a lack of investment at the grassroots level. But this situation can change if new partnerships are forged, if new actors such as the private sector and academia are brought on board, and if the scope of available funding is extended to the east of the country where there is so much commitment to making Chad an even better country through the power of football.

References

BBC (2025) Starmer cuts aid to fund increase in defense spending
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/clyrkkv4gd7o viewed June 3, 2025

UN Info (2025) More than 4 million Sudanese have fled their country since the start of the war
https://news.un.org/fr/story/2025/06/1156101 viewed on June 3, 2025

UN (2019) Financing the UN Development System: Time for Hard Choices
https://mptf.undp.org/news/report-explores-un-financing-architecture-and-hard-choices-
ahead-multilateralism seen on June 3, 2025