Mideast conflict chokes aid lifelines for 400,000 children, charity warns
Geneva — The ongoing Middle East conflict has disrupted major humanitarian supply routes, delaying lifesaving aid for more than 400,000 children in countries including Sudan, Afghanistan and Yemen, the Save the Children said on Wednesday.
The charity said escalating hostilities following a U.S.-Israeli offensive against Iran on Feb. 28 and Tehran’s subsequent retaliation across the region had severely constrained air, sea and land logistics, with shipping through the Strait of Hormuz nearly halted.
According to the organization, the disruption has caused shipping costs to surge by as much as 50% as aid agencies are forced to reroute deliveries, leaving critical supplies stranded in transit hubs across the Middle East.
At least 410,000 children and their families in crisis-affected regions have been impacted, with essential aid shipments unable to reach their destinations. “The escalating conflict is having grave ripple effects for children far beyond the region,” said Willem Zuidema, the group’s head of global supply chains.
A shipment of medical supplies bound for Sudan remains stuck in Dubai due to the closure of Hormuz-linked routes, putting more than 90 primary healthcare facilities at risk of running out of essential medicines, including antibiotics, antimalarials and fever treatments.
Aid groups are now exploring alternative routes, including overland transport across Saudi Arabia to Jeddah followed by sea shipment to Port Sudan, a shift expected to add between $1,000 and $2,000 per container in additional costs.
In Afghanistan, critical nutrition supplies intended for 5,000 children and 1,400 pregnant and breastfeeding women have also been delayed. Originally scheduled to be shipped from India via Iran, the supplies must now be transported by air at a cost exceeding $240,000, more than the value of the cargo itself.
Shipments to Yemen face similar challenges, with medicines for around 5,000 children still held up in Dubai. For the first time, the organization plans to move these supplies by road, effectively doubling transport costs.
Save the Children urged all parties involved in the conflict to ensure safe passage for humanitarian aid, calling for exemptions that would allow essential goods, including food and medical supplies, to move through critical chokepoints.
“With global humanitarian needs already at record levels, further escalation of the conflict in the Middle East and wider region will have grave ramifications,” Zuidema said.
