IRIN: insecurity drives humanitarian organisations out of Pakistan

The growing insecurity in Pakistan has posed several difficulties for the security of staff from several humanitarian organisations, IRIN reports. Since the killing of four aid workers of PLAN international, many NGOs have left the North West Frontier Province, leaving all their beneficiaries behind with no other help coming in. This seems unlikely to change in the near future, as prospects for peace and safety to return remain bleak.

The withdrawal of the UN does not bode well for the province's impoverished people. The same holds true for other areas of Pakistan. "People have suffered, especially women, since NGOs began pulling out. It has meant less awareness, less enlightenment and there has also been a loss of jobs," Mahbano Shahid, an activist formerly employed with an NGO in Mansehra, told IRIN.

Also national agencies are targeted, in particular female aid workers raising awareness about family planning and women's rights.