UNICEF Reports 30-150% Rise in Humanitarian Transport Costs Amid Red Sea Disruptions and Middle East Conflict

-launched war in the Middle East are driving up costs for vaccines, therapeutic food, and education materials delivered to children in Africa and elsewhere. Meeus spoke at a UN press conference in Geneva. The war is nearly 100 days old as of 3 June 2026, AllAfrica reported.

"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," Meeus said. 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, he said.

"With every additional dollar UNICEF spends on transport, one less dollar goes to supplies for children," Meeus said. 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 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 $200,000, a 56 percent transport increase, Meeus said. In Mali, the international freight budget saw a 36 percent increase in the first quarter.

The UNICEF Mali office faces the choice of reducing the number of supplies ordered and the number of children who can be treated, he said. 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, Meeus said. UNICEF faces the unprecedented scenario of nearly exhausting its annual transport contributions from logistics partners, he said.