"Nearly 100 days into the latest Middle East escalation, the fallout extends far beyond the region. The disruption to global humanitarian supply chains is impacting children across the globe, with continued congestion in global supply routes, and higher transport costs at all levels.
"Increased transport costs mean less money for the lifesaving supplies children need. These pressures are rendering the margins for error for organizations, like UNICEF, precarious.
"What begins as a disruption to shipping lanes can spiral into a humanitarian crisis. For UNICEF, persistent delays and higher operational costs, when they come in the context of a global funding crisis, are already forcing impossible choices: which children do we reach first?
"Transportation and logistics costs alone are having a tremendous impact. Maritime diversions around the Cape of Good Hope now add two to four weeks to shipping times. Air freight capacity has tightened across Middle East routes, while port congestion is spreading across Africa and beyond. And behind this cascading disruption is a simple, brutal equation: every additional dollar UNICEF spends on transport is one less dollar spent on supplies for children.
"The operational impact in the past few months is already severe. Air freight costs for vaccines from India to Ethiopia, Nigeria, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo have jumped 50 to 70 percent. Trucking costs for Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food, or RUTF, from Kenya manufacturers to Somalia, South Sudan, and the DRC have climbed 30 percent. Sea freight for education materials from China to Yemen and Mozambique has surged 100 to 150 percent.
"In Nigeria, rerouting syringes for a polio vaccination campaign targeting 12 million children cost an additional US$200,000, a 56 per cent transport increase.
"In Mali, the international freight budget saw a significant increase of 36 per cent in the first quarter. With these increasing costs, the country office is faced with the choice of reducing the number of RUTF cartons ordered and the number of children who could be treated, or absorbing these unforeseen transport costs at the expense of other critical UNICEF interventions in Mali, including health, education, WASH, and child protection programmes.
"In Afghanistan, successive route closures are forcing us to move nutrition supplies through Georgia and across the Caspian Sea, adding roughly two months to delivery timelines.
"African ports in Beira, Conakry, Abidjan, Dar es Salaam, and Mombasa are all experiencing significant delays. Landlocked countries that depend on these corridors continue to face cascading effects. Ethiopia's Djibouti corridor, the country's primary humanitarian gateway, is under growing pressure. Meanwhile, millions of children are at the sharp end of these changes.
"In addition, UNICEF has nearly exhausted annual transport contributions from logistics partners - this is unprecedented for us.
"Cumulatively, we estimate that these disruptions could delay critical supplies by up to four to six months. For a child in a crisis zone, delays in arrival of vaccines or nutrition interventions can mean the difference between life and death.
"Despite all challenges, UNICEF is maintaining the flow of critical supplies. We are activating alternative air, land, and sea routes, frontloading procurement, and diversifying our supplier base. Our global network, which includes hubs in Copenhagen and Dubai and more than 300 warehouses worldwide, is being deployed strategically. We are also localizing production. UNICEF now works with more than 20 RUTF manufacturers globally, including in Ethiopia, Kenya, Haiti, and Egypt. This reduces dependence on long international shipping routes.
"Additionally, UNICEF's procurement strategies and market shaping work strengthen the resilience of supply chains, supply security and support price stability, reducing the risk of shortages and price increases.
"Together with WFP and other UN partners, we have secured commitments from major carriers to suspend surcharges on humanitarian shipments temporarily, saving an estimated US$2 million across UN operations. But let us be clear: there are limits to what humanitarian agencies can absorb.
"When supply chains are hampered, children pay the price first. Despite all these challenges, UNICEF and our partners are continuing to deliver.
"We will not allow these challenges to compromise the lives and wellbeing of children."
