Family in Chad

Chad has no single unified Persons and Family Code. The Civil Code of 1958 and Ordinance 03/INJ of 1961 operate alongside customary, Islamic or other religious rules, community practice and humanitarian systems. Municipalities, rural councils, civil-registration offices, courts, the Ministry responsible for women and child protection, provincial social action services, health facilities, CRT, CNARR, UNICEF and UNHCR partners may each have different responsibilities. Formal rights and practical access therefore vary between urban and rural areas, provinces and displacement settings. Marriage may be civil, customary or religious. The legal marriage age is 18 for both sexes. Act 029/PR/2015 and Order 006/PR/2015 provide prison sentences of 5 to 10 years and fines of 500,000 to 5,000,000 CFA francs for child marriage, forced marriage or officiating such a marriage. Implementation remains uneven, especially in rural areas. A marriage registration process can involve the bride and groom, birth certificates or identity documents, witnesses, an agreed dowry, a premarital medical certificate and a stated matrimonial property regime. Banns may run for 10 to 30 days, and the celebration is limited to two months under the described procedure. Marriage registration is decentralized, and a UNICEF profile found no general legal obligation to register a marriage; local filing fees and processing conditions can nevertheless depend on the office and day. Birth registration is mandatory under Law 008/PR/2013 and should be completed within one month. The father, mother, an ascendant or another person who witnessed the birth may declare it at a municipal, rural or diplomatic civil-registration office. The certificate is issued immediately and without a registration fee when the procedure is completed on time. Late registration requires a supplementary court judgment and legal costs. Registration remains low: the 2019 Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey reported about 22% of children under one year and 26% of children under five as registered. Mobile and health-facility-linked registration can improve access. A marriage certificate is not required to register a birth. Parents have a constitutional right and duty to raise and educate their children under Article 42. In practice, households, relatives and communities provide most daily care, while formal support is usually targeted or linked to a project or crisis. Family planning is available through health facilities and community outreach. A 2024 WHO project worked with 45 facilities, and UNFPA reported that 96% of service points offered at least three modern methods in 2023. Distance, funding, supply problems, adolescent access and social barriers can still limit use. No universal family allowance was evidenced. The Labour Code of 1996, sections 107 to 109, provides 14 weeks of maternity suspension, normally six weeks before birth and eight weeks after birth. A compulsory work ban covers four weeks before and six weeks after birth. Pregnancy dismissal protection and nursing breaks also apply under the described framework. No general parental or paternity leave was located. Coverage may be less direct for informal workers, who require separate verification. Social assistance is fragmented and targeted. The Unified Social Registry included 25,000 vulnerable households in 2024. A 2024 World Bank package targeted 40,000 acutely food-insecure households and 25,000 flood-affected or refugee households with emergency one-time transfers. Eligibility, payment amount and timing depend on the programme and targeting criteria, such as poverty, shock, refugee status or host-community status. There is no evidenced universal child or family benefit. Separated or unaccompanied children, orphans, refugees and internally displaced people may receive case management. The usual six steps are identification and registration, informed consent, assessment, an individual care plan, follow-up and closure. Interim host or alternative care, psychosocial, medical, nutrition and legal support, family tracing and reunification may be arranged through provincial social action services, CRT, UNICEF, UNHCR and, in displacement settings, CNARR or CISM. Access depends on geography, security and available projects. Divorce and family disputes may proceed through civil courts, customary or religious authorities, or community processes. The Civil Code provides divorce by fault or mutual consent and allows claims concerning custody, maintenance and matrimonial property. Parallel systems can produce different procedures and outcomes, and court costs and timing are not reliably standardized nationally. The Reproductive Health Act 006/PR/2002 prohibits gender-based violence, domestic violence, female genital mutilation, early marriage and sexual abuse. Survivor services include medical, psychosocial, legal and socioeconomic support, but specialized centres are concentrated in supported locations. Death registration is mandatory within one month. A surviving spouse, ascendant, descendant, close relative or another informed person may report the death using a medical death certificate and identification or birth documents. Registration has no stated fee, although certificate or hospital administration charges may arise. The death certificate can be needed for inheritance or social assistance. Local offices and service providers should confirm the current documents, fees and availability before a time-sensitive filing.