At Metche camp near the Sudan–Chad border, the queue for water began at dawn and lasted until sunset. About 40,000 refugees lived there, but aid agencies lacked enough money to drill boreholes, producing a chronic shortage. Latrines had not yet been dug, and blankets and mosquito nets were also missing.
This was more than a failure at one tap. In 2023 the United Nations appealed for $51.5 billion to assist 339 million people worldwide and had received only 38.6 per cent. UN relief funding fell from $30 billion in 2022 to just over $21 billion in 2023. The day-long water queue converted a funding gap that began far from the camp into hours spent waiting beside containers.