Live updates: Follow the latest news on the Iran war
Aid agencies and groups have warned that the global humanitarian system is facing a “perfect storm” as the Iran war disrupts vital supply routes and drives up costs.
They cautioned that even if fighting stopped immediately, it could take weeks or months for supply chains to recover.
The war has effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, a vital global shipping route, sending fuel and insurance costs soaring and making aid deliveries to vulnerable populations slower and more expensive.
Agencies have responded by sending convoys via overland routes and chartering aircraft to reach those in need.
A lifeline in time of war
Robert Blanchard, head of emergency operations at the World Health Organisation (WHO) in Dubai, told The National that activity was about 50 to 60 per cent of what it was pre-crisis, with increased transportation costs and longer delivery times, “but the numbers are going back up quickly”.
“The airlines have less capacity, creating a backlog. This creates a ripple effect. But we are working on catching up and there are big movements and a big push by Dubai Humanitarian,” he said.
Dubai Humanitarian, formerly International Humanitarian City, hosts some of the world’s biggest aid agencies, including the WHO and World Food Programme (WFP), which are a lifeline for Gaza, Sudan, Lebanon and more.
Mr Blanchard said the WHO had sent 180 metric tonnes of aid, valued at $3 million, in the past five days alone, and pointed to recent overland convoys to Lebanon and Al Arish in Egypt for Gaza and a charter flight to Afghanistan – all sponsored by Dubai Humanitarian. He said another charter organised by the WHO had left for Al Arish on Tuesday. More relief is planned.
“Among our biggest concerns are shipments of medicine for Cuba. We have approximately 75 emergency orders for 25 countries pending (this number changes hourly), so we’re prioritising outbound deliveries.”
Global aid budgets tighten
The crisis comes as global aid budgets tighten as need increases. In its 2026 appeal, the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs aims to raise $33 billion to support 135 million people.
Funding for the appeal in 2025 – $12 billion – was the lowest in a decade. Then came new crises in Iran and Lebanon.
Mr Blanchard said the global humanitarian community was facing a “perfect storm” due to such funding cuts, more people in need, higher transport costs and longer times to reach people. “This is all squeezing the humanitarian community and impacting on our ability to save lives.”
The International Rescue Committee said $130,000 worth of pharmaceutical supplies for its Sudan programme, enough to support about 20,000 people, is still in Dubai due to shipping disruptions, while 668 boxes of therapeutic food (worth $34,700) for more than 1,000 malnourished children in IRC clinics in Somalia are still in India.
“This is the perfect storm,” Basma Alloush, deputy director for public affairs and communications, Middle East, North Africa and Ukraine at the IRC, told The National. “And it is happening at a time when aid globally is heavily constrained by the aid cuts that took place last year, with the US and other donors withdrawing.”
Ms Alloush said there are now about 320 million people across the world dealing with food insecurity, and that half the population of Yemen are in need of food assistance.
“To have this added layer makes it that much harder. Even if it ends tomorrow, it would take from weeks to months to get back to normal,” she said. “There are major backlogs and delays. There is no quick fix.”
Echoes of Covid and Ukraine
Corinne Fleischer, WFP director of supply chain, told reporters on March 31 that disruption to supplies mirrored Covid or the start of the Ukraine war.
“What we’ve seen after Covid is that it took four to five months to get back into place once the situation stabilised,” she said.
She gave an example of aid set to be delivered by lorry into Afghanistan from Iran. But when war broke out, it was diverted to Dubai and then driven through Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Syria, Turkey, Azerbaijan, then into Turkmenistan and finally into Afghanistan. “This adds about €1,000 per tonne and another three weeks, but it also allows us to test and open a land route should this situation last longer,” she said.
The WFP has said if the conflict continues until June, 45 million more people will be acutely hungry, adding to the 320 million figure. It comes amid growing concern that disruptions to maritime traffic through the vital waterway could trigger wider impacts on food security and agricultural production in the coming months.
The UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has already established a task force to assist the fertiliser trade, with up to 30 per cent of global supplies passing through the Strait, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Office.
Dubai determined to help
Giuseppe Saba, chief executive and board member at Dubai Humanitarian, told The National in a statement that it remained “fully operational” and “has not stopped the humanitarian activities despite the challenges imposed by the current developments and critical situation”.
Mr Saba said that in the first three months of the year it registered 171 shipments dispatched to 42 countries, for approximately $14.5 million, and that in recent weeks around 140 metric tonnes of relief have been sent, including overland deliveries to Lebanon and Gaza (through Egypt), while destinations such as Afghanistan were supported by chartering aircraft.
“More shipments have also been sent by our members to different countries like Syria and Myanmar, while more consignments are currently being prepared,” said Mr Saba. “The humanitarian supply chain is impacted by the conflict and is facing delays and rising costs due to war risk insurance and fuel constraints on humanitarian organisations, already suffering from funding cuts,” he said.
“However, despite all challenges, from a logistics perspective we are able to find alternative solutions,” he said, saying the work was enabled by close co-ordination with partners including DP World, Dubai Customs and the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs, alongside the private sector, including Emirates SkyCargo.
Mr Blanchard, meanwhile, said the UAE was a critical hub for global supply chains and that the WHO was not going anywhere.
“Regardless of the crisis, we will continue to deliver,” he said. “We will maintain operational capability in Dubai and we will continue to be fully committed to protecting the health of the world’s most vulnerable populations.”
