• As USAID halts funds to NGOs, UN agencies
From Timothy Olanrewaju, Maiduguri
Hundreds of professionals and young people have lost their jobs as many humanitarian response organisations operating in insurgency-affected Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states have introduced measures to adjust to the funding gap created by the withdrawal of aid by the United States.
Daily Sun’s investigations reveal that about 5,000 people, or 67 per cent of those engaged by most of the United Nations agencies, international non-governmental organisations (INGOs), regional and local aid groups have been forced out of job.
This came barely two months after U.S. President Donald Trump banned the US Agency for International Development (USAID) from funding programmes in other countries.
The wave of job losses is remarkable in health, emergency and aid workers. It affected line managers, field workers, support staff, clerical staff, accounts, logistics, technical workers and ad hoc staffers of these organisations.
Weeks after Trump’s pronouncement, USAID-funded FHI 360, an international organisation providing support in the area of reproductive health and education to victims of insurgency, laid off its staff and terminated their engagement. Its office in Maiduguri, once a beehive of activity, especially for vendors, suppliers or contractors, is now deserted.
“About 20 of us got mails in a week informing us the organisation could no longer retain us in view of recent development; that is, in view of the withdrawal of funds,” one of the affected workers, who pleaded anonymity told Daily Sun. He joined the organisation about three years ago after searching for a job for years. He described the loss as a huge set back for his career.
While FHI 360 and some INGOs are almost shutting down their operations, others have opted for restructuring and scaling down their workforce to about 33 to 35 per cent of the required capacity. The most affected are Action Against Hunger, Norwegian Refugee Council, Mercy Corps, Danish Refugee Council, International Rescue Committee, International Medical Corps, Plan International, Family Health International and World Health Organisation (WHO).
Others are Solidarite International, Christian Aid, Premiere Urgence Internationale Medicine Sans Frontier, Care International and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
Already, UNICEF has indicated plans to reduce its workers. Its Regional Director for West and Central Africa, Gillies Fagninous, said: “The reduction in funding means we must prioritise and manage resources much more effectively. One approach is limiting travel expenses. Another is optimising our workforce to ensure maximum impact with available resources.”
Other parts of the economy affected by the new measure are service providers including corporate transport companies, event planners/managers, restaurant operators, foods and beverages suppliers, contractors and conference/seminar materials suppliers.
A Maiduguri-based journalist, Ali Ciroma, said: “The humanitarian organisations have become the second biggest employers of labour in the state.”
Yobe State Emergency Management (YOSEMA), Mohammed Goje, regretted that about 220,000 people may be cut off from aid support, resilience and life-saving support programmes, access to Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) programme of the aid agencies in the state.
Until 2015, the banking sector and civil service were providers of employment opportunities in Borno State. The escalation of insurgency, however, led to the movement of operational activities of UN agencies, local, regional and INGOs to provide support to victims of the violence.
In the past years, the increasing presence of INGOs and UN agencies in the region had led to employment opportunities, which in turn spurred other economic activities and markets for food, beverages, establishment of hotels, seminar and conference halls, eateries, several relaxation centres and clubs. But with the present situation, many of these opportunities are shutting down.