Mr. David Regan:

Over 300 million people in the world are in need of humanitarian aid. Two of the primary causes are climate and conflict. Of those two it is shocking to say that conflict is the major one. Climate is a substantive issue as well, it is an enormous issue. In Sudan the ability of people to predict when rain will fall is considerably diminished as it has become unpredictable. The scale of either drought or flood is similarly growing. We are seeing that right across Africa. That being said, people are trying to adapt and work in communities as best they can. It is very challenging for them. It is frankly not safe in many parts of the continent.

The refugees we work with in Chad are keen to remain close to the border as they essentially run the gauntlet back to their land in west Sudan to plant and then run again, to get away from the forces that seek to kidnap and kill them. That is outside of the various aspects of gender-based violence that happen with total impunity. Climate is a major issue. Communities are responding but the situation is challenging as the level of change is so extreme. It is challenging for them. We are working with them to do what we can to diversify their livelihoods. The reality is that government has broken down, as has been touched on, and we are relying on communities to mind themselves. Even at local government level it is very difficult to conceptualise governments having the necessary structure. This is a very basic community level. How we work with these people to enable them to manage themselves is probably the better way to look at it.