The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has warned that the cost of transporting humanitarian aid has skyrocketed due to the war in Iran, with increases of up to 70% in air transport and 100% in maritime transport, which is having an "enormous impact" on the operation of its missions and threatens to cause a serious humanitarian crisis.
"Almost 100 days after the latest escalation in the Middle East, its consequences extend far beyond the region. The disruption of global humanitarian supply chains is affecting children all over the world, with persistent congestion on global supply routes and increased transport costs at all levels," UNICEF has indicated, emphasizing that "transport and logistics costs alone are having an enormous impact" on the humanitarian response.
As an example, the organization details that the price of transporting vaccines by air from India to Ethiopia, Nigeria, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has increased by between 50% and 70%. Likewise, the cost of transporting food by road from Kenya to Somalia, South Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of Congo has increased by 30%, while maritime transport has skyrocketed, with increases of between 100% and 150% in shipments from China to Yemen and Mozambique.
"The increase in transport costs means less money for the vital supplies that children need. These pressures are leaving organizations like UNICEF with an increasingly precarious margin for error," argues the organization, which warns that the crisis in maritime routes "could lead to a humanitarian crisis."
"Persistent delays and increased operational costs in a context of global funding crisis are already forcing impossible decisions: 'Which children do we reach first?'" it has warned in a statement.
In addition to port bottlenecks, UNICEF emphasizes that landlocked countries depend on logistical corridors that suffer "knock-on effects" from accumulated transport delays, according to the statement.
The UN agency warns that it is about to exhaust annual transport contributions from its logistics partners, an unprecedented situation for the organization, and estimates that current disruptions "could delay the arrival of critical supplies by four to six months."