Contact: Nathalie Losson, Executive Director
Tel: +1 (410) 602-5359
Email: cfk@caringforkaela.org

CFK ADVISOR NAMED TECHNICAL ADVISOR TO CHADIAN PRESIDENT IDRISS DEBY ITNO

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N’DJAMENA, CHAD (17 March 2010): Dr. Djimé Adoum, an Advisor with Caring for Kaela (CFK), was appointed by President Idriss Déby Itno, Chad, on March 12th, 2010, as Technical Advisor in Charge of Rural Development to the President. 

Dr. Adoum joined Caring for Kaela in 2007 as part of CFK’s Advisory Committee of Chadian Nationals to help guide and prioritize the organization’s activities.

CFK works to empower Chadians to affect change within their own country and become full participants in the development and governance of Chad.

A Planning and Evaluation Specialist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and a prolific blogger on all issues concerning Chad, Dr. Adoum provides the organization with contextualized analysis on Chad’s internal dynamics. In turn, CFK began empowering Dr. Adoum to engage in the stabilization of his country.

Following the February 2008 coup attempt, CFK organized an “Inter-Chadian Debate” in Paris (March 2008) to engage Chadians around the need for dialogue between all parties to the conflict. Participants created the Independent Commission for an Inclusive Dialogue (CIDI) and elected Dr. Adoum as the Coordinator of the CIDI.

Dr. Adoum participated in CFK’s track-II diplomatic efforts that sought to address the gaps in the international community’s response to Chad’s internal political crisis.

October 2008 in New York, CFK organized a "Multi-Stakeholder’s Consultation" to analyze the Chadian crisis under its multiple facets. Major stakeholders examined the strategies of the international community to achieve sustainable peace in Chad and the region. During the Consultation, CFK gave several of its Chadian Advisors a seat at the table, putting them as equals with Assistant Secretary-Generals and Ambassadors, to voice the call of the Chadian people for comprehensive solutions to the conflict.

The success of the Consultation led to a meeting between President Idriss Déby Itno and Dr. Adoum(October 2008) during which the President agreed to let the CIDI create a Team of technical experts to meet with the armed and un-armed opposition and assess the effectiveness of the various peace agreements currently in place in Chad. In March 2009, H.E. Mahamoud Adam Bechir, Chadian Ambassador to the United States, signed the official authorization for the work to begin.

With the defeat of the armed opposition in May 2009 and the balance of power drastically in favor of N’Djaména, CFK developed a new strategy to help stabilize the country.

While progress was noted in N’Djaména, stability remains fragile. For a country at the bottom of most development indicators, perceived by many international stakeholders and national observers to be gangrened by corruption and nepotism, the road towards visible and palpable reform is inevitably long and uneven. While change is incremental, gains need to be consolidated and the Government of Chad encouraged to venture even further in its stabilization efforts.

At the end of a cycle of violence, much remains to be done to help rebuild the country if the Chadian Government is to prevent the next wave of rebel attacks from occurring. The appointment of Dr. Adoum as Advisor to the President will be an asset to the Government and an opportunity to strengthen Chadian reconstruction efforts.

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