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Groups: War Hindering Food, Medicine 04/06 06:23
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) -- Aid groups are warning that the war in the Middle
East has upended their ability to get food and medicine to millions of people
around the world in need, and that the suffering will deepen if the violence
continues.
Not only has the conflict cut off vital shipping routes, creating a global
energy crisis, it's also disrupting supply chains for aid groups, forcing them
to use costlier, more time-consuming routes.
Key pathways such as the Strait of Hormuz have been effectively shuttered
and routes from strategic hubs such as Dubai, Doha and Abu Dhabi have also been
impacted. Transport costs have spiked with higher fuel and insurance rates,
meaning less supplies can be delivered with the same amount of money.
The World Food Program says it has tens of thousands of metric tons of food
heavily delayed in transit. The International Rescue Committee has $130,000
worth of pharmaceuticals intended for war-torn Sudan stranded in Dubai and
nearly 670 boxes of therapeutic food meant for severely malnourished children
in Somalia stuck in India. The U.N. Population Fund says it's delayed sending
equipment to 16 countries.
Steep U.S. cuts to foreign aid already had hobbled many aid groups, who say
the war is exacerbating the problem.
The United Nations says this is the most significant supply chain disruption
since COVID, with up to a 20% cost increase on shipments and delays as goods
are rerouted. And the war is creating new emergencies, such as in Iran, and
also 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 for the International
Rescue Committee.
Even when the fighting stops, the shock to global supply chains could
continue to delay lifesaving aid for months, she said.
Longer and more costly routes
The war has forced organizations to find new ways to transport goods, with
some bypassing the Strait of Hormuz and the Suez Canal and rerouting vessels
around Africa, adding weeks to the delivery.
Others are using a hybrid of methods, including land, sea and air,
increasing costs.
Jean-Cedric Meeus, chief of global transport and logistics for UNICEF, said
his agency is using a mix of land and air routes to send vaccines to Nigeria
and Iran in order to get them there in time for the vaccination campaigns, but
the costs have soared.
Before the war, UNICEF sent vaccines to Iran by plane directly from vendors
around the world. Now it's flying the vaccines to Turkey and driving them into
Iran, which has increased costs by 20% and has added 10 days to the delivery
time, he said.
Save the Children International, which would normally send supplies by ocean
freight from Dubai to Port Sudan, will now have to truck the goods from Dubai
through Saudi Arabia and then by barge across the Red Sea, it said. The route
adds 10 days and increases costs by about 25%, at a time when over 19 million
Sudanese face acute food insecurity. The delay puts more than 90 primary health
care facilities across Sudan at risk of running out of essential medicines, it
said.
The spike in prices also means organizations have to choose what to
prioritize.
"In the end, you sacrifice either the number of children that you serve ...
or you sacrifice the number of items that you can afford to buy," said Janti
Soeripto, president of Save the Children for the United States. The group said
it has stockpiles in countries where it works but some of those could run out
within weeks.
Rising costs are also impacting people's ability to seek help within their
countries.
Doctors Without Borders said rising fuel prices across Somalia -- where some
6.5 million people are experiencing acute food insecurity -- have driven up
transport and food costs, making it harder for people to get care. In Nigeria,
the IRC says fuel prices have surged by 50% and clinics are struggling to power
equipment, such as generators and mobile health teams have scaled back
operations.
Hunger crisis could deepen
One of the biggest concerns is the impact the war will have on global hunger.
WFP warns that if the conflict continues through June, 45 million more
people will be acutely hungry, adding to nearly 320 million people facing
hunger around the world.
Some 30% of the world's fertilizer comes through the Strait of Hormuz and
with planting season ahead in areas like East Africa and South Asia, small
farmers in poor countries will be hard hit. Sudan imports more than half its
fertilizer from the Gulf and Kenya approximately 40% from there, aid groups say.
The U.N. secretary-general has established a task force to facilitate
fertilizer trade -- modeled on the Black Sea Grain Initiative. But aid groups
say that won't be enough. If there's no ceasefire, governments need to provide
more funding for organizations to respond to the rising costs, they say.
Humanitarian experts say there's been a slower international response to
fund aid during this war compared to previous conflicts like Ukraine, which
could reflect growing pressure to invest in security over aid at a time when
the world is in turmoil.
"They're making hard choices between defense security and humanitarian aid,"
said Sam Vigersky, an international affairs fellow at the Council on Foreign
Relations who has written about the war's impact on aid.
He said when the U.S. goes to war, it normally has provisions for aid, but
hasn't been "activating" those provisions. "It's not a capacity issue, it's a
policy decision," he said.
Tommy Pigott, principal deputy spokesperson for the U.S. State Department,
said that the U.S. has been the "most generous country in the world" when it
comes to humanitarian aid.
The department said it's releasing an additional $50 million in emergency
assistance to Lebanon, including to the World Food Program and working closely
with the United Nations and others to address the humanitarian needs.
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