United Nations to cut staff by 40% in Pakistan due to security concerns

The United Nations plans to reduce about 40 per cent of its staff in Pakistan by realigning their deployment due to growing security concerns in the wake of a wave of terrorist attacks across the country.

A significant number of UN staff, particularly foreign nationals, will be transferred to safer projects within Pakistan or sent abroad, sources said. The staff will be gradually reduced by realigning their deployment in projects, they said.

The move will ultimately lead to a reduction of about 40 per cent of the UN staff, sources said. The UN information centre in Islamabad said a decision had been made to reduce staff due to growing security concerns but made it clear that the move would not affect ongoing humanitarian projects.

UN spokesperson Ishrat Rizvi too confirmed the decision but did not say how many UN staff would be leaving Pakistan. Media reports said the world body decided to relocate its international staff members working on different projects following a series of meetings between senior UN and Pakistan government officials. The reduction of staff will be done in two phases.

In the first phase, all international staff members working on long and short-term projects in sensitive areas will be relocated to projects in safer locations. In the second phase, international staff members who cannot be relocated will leave Pakistan, the reports said.