United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has said it is scaling back operations in Nigeria due to funding cuts.
  
This was contained in an internal memo signed by emergency response coordinator, Tom Fletcher, who told OCHA staff last Thursday that the agency had a funding gap of almost $58 million.
  
“Addressing this shortfall will be critical to maintaining our mission. And to be very clear: This process is driven by funding constraints, not a reduction in needs,” Fletcher said.
   
OCHA currently has a workforce of around 2,600 staff in around 60 countries, including Nigeria.
  
“The funding shortfall means we are looking to regroup to an organisation of around 2,100 staff in fewer locations. This translates into 500 fewer positions, or 20 per cent,” Fletcher noted.
  
The OCHA emergency response coordinator said the agency would gradually scale back its presence in Nigeria, “which does not necessarily mean a full withdrawal of OCHA architecture or presence”.
  
Other country offices affected are Cameroon, Colombia, Eritrea, Iraq, Libya, Nigeria, Pakistan, Gaziantep, and Zimbabwe.
  
In Nigeria, OCHA has worked to support national and international non-governmental organisations and other UN agencies to respond to critical emergencies in humanitarian settings, particularly the north-eastern states of Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe.
  
Sectors, where the UN agency has worked to demonstrate humanitarian leadership, include food security, education, health, nutrition, and logistics.