Can stakeholder collaboration help achieve Agenda 2030 for the Chokoyan Community in CHAD?

Mountassir Mahamat and Dr Habsita Mahamat

The UN has identified Africa rural communities as the weak link in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. Chokoyan in Eastern Chad is a commmunity facing many of the development issues typical of Sub Saharan Africa (like health, education, food security, basic sanitation, drinking water, electricity, gender equality and employment). The Chadian government is supportive of Agenda 2030 and has committed to implementing the SDGs but efforts to combat terrorism and an oil price drop have had a negative impact on the state budget and has unfortunately hindered its efforts.

In July Association Agir pour le Development Durable, a Chadian volunteer organisation, approached Africa Community Engagement (ACE) to seek advice and practical support to a proposed project to improve health at the Chokoyan health centre. Over the last 3 months the 2 organIsations have jointly developed a strategic action plan in efforts to help implement this. A Social, Technological, Environment, Economic and Political (STEEP) analysis assessed the factors hindering development and identified ways of overcoming these issues. We then gathered stakeholders within the ACE group and beyond to offer their knowledge, practical advice, and direct engagement to help move the plan forward.

These discussions have identified solar powered energy as a sustainable way to ensure vital refigeration units work continuously, a steady water supply to the taps and sustainable lighting for the health staff and patients. We are also looking at Solar E-Cycle Tricycles and trailers to enable health staff travel out to the wider Chokoyan community and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to facilitate training not just for medical staff but also with job creation (like solar panel making) and for the local schools.

We hope that in the next few months the health centre will start benefiting directly from these contributions. The intention is to extend the action plan to cover other important aspects of Agenda 2030 like sustainable employment. We are already asssessing the potential of eco-tourism, a solar panel industry and a sustainable agricultural sector. 

Our aim at ACE is to show that collaboration of key stakeholders is an essential route to achieving the SDGs in Africa rural communities. We hope in the process our efforts will help shine a light along the dark pathway to the many committed community activists across the continent in their own development endeavours. 

We thank members of ACE for their continuous support, particularly Dr Habsita Mahamat, a Chadian Doctor directly contributing to the health development of the community and Fritz Raake of Solaris Energy Systems for designing a sustainable energy supply to the health centre. 

Any comments on the above and offers of help to the development plan for Chokoyan are warmly welcomed (paul@geovision.co.uk) 

Thank you

Mountassir Mahamat and Paul Shaw