Increased insecurity and instability around key Gulf routes, including the Strait of Hormuz, are causing prices of basic goods to rise and delivery of critical supplies to be delayed, according to the United Nations refugee agency (unhcr) Spokesperson Carlotta Wolf told Correspondent in Geneva.
“Rising costs of transport, food and fuel Disproportionately impacts those already living in emergencies, including millions of refugees and displaced people who are among those most affected, as well as the ability of aid agencies to deliver timely assistance has also been reduced,” she said.
UNCTAD
Data from the Strait of Hormuz Dashboard.
Aid supply route rerouted
UNHCR has been forced to adapt to the situation by rerouting seaborne cargo and increasingly relying on alternative land corridorsMs. Wolf explained, which lengthened transportation times and created additional costs.
Since the beginning of the crisis, freight rates to and from countries where relief goods are sourced have increased by about 18 per cent, while the capacity of UNHCR’s global transport providers has declined from 97 to 77 per cent since the start of 2026.
“The cost of some shipments has more than doubledSuch as the cost of transportation of relief goods from UNHCR’s global stockpile in Dubai to our Sudan and Chad operations,” Ms Wolf said.
The UNHCR spokesperson expressed particular concern about the situation in Africa, which is home to multiple overlapping, “often tragically neglected” displacement crises.
In Kenya, where one of UNHCR’s global reserves is located, rising fuel prices have affected the availability of trucks to transport containers of emergency supplies for major aid operations in Ethiopia, DR Congo and South Sudan.
late delivery
That means “people in dire need are getting things much later than they need,” Ms. Wolfe said.
He further emphasized that only 23 percent of the total $8.5 billion required for UNHCR operations globally is funded.
“Every additional dollar spent on transportation is less than a dollar we could provide to those forced to flee…The impact is already there on the people we serve,” he said.
The UNHCR spokesperson stressed that restrictions on the free passage of fertilizer through the Strait of Hormuz are also driving up food prices and driving inflation, meaning people who are already struggling to survive in emergency situations are able to purchase less basic goods.
united nations Secretary General Antonio GuterresWarned on Thursday that there is a crisis in the Strait of Hormuz Could push millions of people into poverty, increase global hunger and have long-term negative effects on the global economy.
Fuel shortages are suffocating communities
United Nations Human Rights Office (UNHRO)OHCHR) Spokesman Jeremy Lawrence underlined the devastating and immediate human rights impact of the situation, and in particular the fuel shortage.
“A small farmer in Africa or Asia or Latin America cannot run his machinery on his small plot of land” that serves to support his extended family, he said. Generators running on diesel fuel have been shut down, while school buses cannot run and children are deprived of education.
“It always hits the most vulnerable first,” he concluded.
