
The World Food Program and several other aid agencies are evacuating their foreign staff from southern and eastern Niger because of security threats, a move that some aid workers fear would undermine efforts to address the country’s worsening food crisis.
“I can confirm that the World Food Programme has told its staff based in Maradi and Zinder to evacuate and return to Niamey due to security reasons,” WFP spokesman Vigno Hounkanli said, according to Reuters.
Maradi in southern Niger and Zinder in the eastern part of the country are among those most affected by the crisis. Hounkanli did not elaborate on what security threats he was referring to.
Two aid workers, who asked for anonymity, said all U.N. agencies and several charities are pulling out of the regions due to fear of kidnappings by militants with ties to al-Qaida, Reuters adds.
Aside from evacuating staff from the two regions, WFP is also reportedly forced to scale down its assistance to crisis-affected families due to funding shortage.
The organization has announced it will prioritize feeding children under the age of 2 and abandon earlier plans to provide food aid to the families with children who are more than 2 years old, Oxfam International says. Some 60 percent of people in need of food aid may not receive adequate assistance if the plan pushes through, the international organization adds.