Women transport water at Gourounkoun refugee camp near the town of Goz Beida, in eastern Chad, March 28, 2007.(Reuters)

The UN warned on Friday that unless immediate international financing is provided, it may be unable to feed 600,000 refugees in Chad within weeks.

According to the UN World Food Programme, Chad has the largest refugee population in West and Central Africa, and the number is growing due to upheaval in neighboring Sudan.

This is the fourth year that Chad faces severe food insecurity.

Despite the fact that refugees are a priority, the WFP said it had to scale back its intentions to serve 455,600 refugees in April to roughly 270,000.

WFP's Chad country director Pierre Honnorat spoke to reporters in Geneva, via video call from the capital of N'Djamena, detailing to them that a "drastic" targeting had already been done to ensure that the poorest among the poor will receive help.

He underlined, "We have absolutely no funding from May onwards for the refugees and displaced people. It's really catastrophic."

WFP is requesting $142.7 million for the next six months to feed all crisis-affected people in Chad, including refugees, the 380,000 internally displaced, and other Chadians affected by recent harsh weather.

According to the agency, "If no further funding is received, food assistance will come to a 100 percent halt in May 2023 for both refugees and internally displaced."

Last year, the country saw the most damaging floods in 30 years.

According to the World Food Programme, 1.9 million people in Chad are food insecure.

Meanwhile, the UN refugee agency announced a $172.5 million fundraising goal to give safety and relief assistance to one million forcibly displaced persons and their hosts in Chad.

UNHCR spokesman Matthew Saltmarsh told reporters that it was only 15 percent funded and that money was "desperately needed."

He stated that the organization was pressing Nigeria and Chad to consider voluntary refugee repatriation.

"The numbers envisaged might be relatively modest, but we think this is an important signal in terms of finding solutions for the displaced in Chad but also for the region."