UN warns global aid at risk as Middle East war spreads

GENEVA, March 11 (Reuters) - The United Nations aid chief warned on Wednesday that the conflict in the Middle East is straining humanitarian operations worldwide, ​disrupting supply chains and slowing the delivery of life‑saving assistance ‌to numerous crisis zones.

“We are in a moment of grave peril for the Middle East and, actually I believe, for the wider world,” Tom Fletcher, the U.N. aid ​chief, told Reuters.

The Reuters Iran Briefing newsletter keeps you informed with the latest developments and analysis of the Iran war. Sign up here.

The U.S.-Israeli war with Iran, which has expanded to ​Lebanon and dragged in Gulf countries, has convulsed global markets ⁠and disrupted supply chains, with airspace closures and the halt of shipping ​through the critical Strait of Hormuz.

Fletcher said aid supplies to Gaza and sub‑Saharan Africa are ​being affected by the conflict, as humanitarian relief that needs to travel through the Strait of Hormuz or through airspace in the Gulf has been largely blocked or constrained.

Conflict-ridden ​Somalia, which is facing a major drought, and Sudan are among ​a number of countries facing dire humanitarian crises.

“These (constraints) will damage our humanitarian supply chains, reduce ‌the ⁠humanitarian supplies we can get to people who need them, but they’ll also drive up energy costs and food costs across the region,” Fletcher said.

“This really is a perfect storm of factors right now, and I’m seriously ​worried,” he stated.

There ​is particular concern ⁠for aid supplies to sub‑Saharan Africa, Flether said, which are being impacted by restricted movement through the Strait ​of Hormuz, with alternative routes slapped with rising freight costs.

Higher ​oil ⁠prices are making the U.N.'s aid deliveries by air more expensive, at a time when UN agencies and NGOs budgets are already facing major donor cuts, Fletcher ⁠explained.

“We’ve ​just about put some money together to keep ​more of our UN humanitarian flights in the air, but they’ve suddenly, almost overnight, become ​much more expensive,” Fletcher said.

Reporting by Olivia Le Poidevin, Editing by William Maclean

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab

• Suggested Topics:
• Middle East

Share

• X

• Facebook

• Linkedin

• Email

• Link

Purchase Licensing Rights