Aid groups warn Middle East war is choking global relief supply chains as costs surge

Aid organizations say the war in the Middle East has upended the pipelines that move food and medicine to millions of people, slowing deliveries, inflating costs and deepening need worldwide. The World Food Programme warns that if the conflict continues through June, 45 million more people will be acutely hungry, adding to nearly 320 million people already facing hunger around the globe.

The fighting has cut off vital shipping routes and fueled an energy crunch, aid groups say, forcing them onto longer, costlier pathways. Key corridors such as the Strait of Hormuz have been effectively shuttered, while routes from regional hubs including Dubai, Doha and Abu Dhabi have also been hit.

Higher fuel and insurance premiums are driving transport costs up, meaning less aid can be delivered for the same money. The United Nations describes the disruption as the most significant to aid supply chains since COVID-19, with shipment costs rising by up to 20%.

The The World Food Programme reports tens of thousands of metric tons of food held up in transit. The International Rescue Committee says USD 130,000 worth of pharmaceuticals intended for war-torn Sudan are stranded in Dubai, and nearly 670 boxes of therapeutic food for severely malnourished children in Somalia are stuck in India.

The UN Population Fund says it has postponed sending equipment to 16 countries. Aid groups add that steep US cuts to foreign aid had already hobbled operations, and the war is exacerbating the strain. The conflict is also creating new emergencies, including in Iran, and in Lebanon where at least one million people have been displaced.

“The war on Iran and disruption to the Strait of Hormuz risk pushing humanitarian operations beyond their limits,” said Madiha Raza, associate director for public affairs and communications for Africa at the International Rescue Committee. Even if fighting stops, she said, the shock to global supply chains could delay lifesaving aid for months.

With key waterways compromised, organizations are improvising. Some are steering ships around Africa, adding weeks to delivery times. Others are combining land, sea and air to beat deadlines—at far higher cost. Jean-Cedric Meeus, chief of global transport and logistics for UNICEF, said the agency is using a mix of land and air routes to send vaccines to Nigeria and Iran in time for immunization campaigns.

Before the war, UNICEF shipped vaccines to Iran by plane directly from suppliers. Now it flies them to Turkey and drives them into Iran, a workaround that has increased costs by 20% and added 10 days to delivery, he said. Save the Children International said supplies that would typically move by ocean freight from Dubai to Port Sudan now must be trucked through Saudi Arabia and barged across the Red Sea.

That detour adds 10 days and roughly 25% to costs, at a time when over 19 million people in Sudan face acute food insecurity. The delay, the group said, puts more than 90 primary health care facilities across Sudan at risk of running out of essential medicines.

“In the end, you sacrifice either the number of children that you serve or the number of items that you can afford to buy,” said Janti Soeripto, president of Save the Children for the United States, noting that some in-country stockpiles could run out within weeks.

Aid agencies warn that even a rapid de-escalation will not quickly unwind the bottlenecks. With costs elevated and routes precarious, they expect months of continued