U.N.: Afghan north poor, but shielded KABUL, Afghanistan, March 26 (UPI) -- Northern Afghanistan was largely overshadowed by strife-torn provinces in the south, though that shielded the region from mismanagement, officials said. International forces starting next year begin a planned handover of security responsibilities to Afghan forces in preparation for a 2014 departure. Aidan O'Leary, the top official at the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Afghanistan, told the United Nations' humanitarian news agency IRIN that most foreign aid has targeted the southern parts of the country were most troops are based. "Going forward ... the people who are most vulnerable have to be at the forefront of the agenda," said O'Leary. One aid official, who spoke with IRIN on condition of anonymity, said provincial reconstruction teams weren't focused on areas that needed the most help. The World Bank estimates that around 23 percent of the population in Kandahar province lives below the official poverty line compared with 75 percent in Logar province to the north. Another aid worker, however, said it was the influx of foreign aid that created policy problems in the country. "In the north, there has never been big money," the official said. There was no war.