Geneva — The ongoing Middle East conflict has now entered its 100th day, with its consequences reaching far beyond the region, as the United Nations warns that vaccine costs are affecting children across Africa and globally.
“Global humanitarian supply chains are facing severe disruptions, with ongoing congestion in international transport routes and rising costs at every level,” said Jean-Cedric Meeus, UNICEF’s head of logistics, during a Tuesday briefing in Geneva.
“Logistics and transportation costs are severely constraining operations. Maritime rerouting around the Cape of Good Hope now extends shipping times by two to four weeks,” Meeus added.
The cascading effects of these disruptions create a stark equation: each additional dollar spent on transport reduces resources available for child-focused supplies.
Rising expenses for critical supplies leave fewer resources for life-saving interventions, endangering operational capacity for organizations like UNICEF.
“Air freight costs for vaccines from India to Ethiopia, Nigeria, and the Democratic Republic of Congo have surged by 50 to 70 percent,” Meeus stated.
“Trucking costs for Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food from Kenya to Somalia, South Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of Congo have risen by 30 percent.”
Additionally, sea freight costs for educational materials from China to Yemen and Mozambique have climbed 100 to 150 percent.
“In Nigeria, rerouting syringes for a polio vaccination campaign targeting 12 million children incurred an extra $200,000 in costs—a 56 percent increase,” the UNICEF official reported.
“Mali saw a 36 percent spike in international freight expenses during the first quarter.”
With escalating costs, UNICEF’s Mali office is forced to reduce both supply orders and the number of children it can treat.
“Key African ports including Beira, Conakry, Abidjan, Dar es Salaam, and Mombasa are experiencing significant delays,” Meeus noted.
“Landlocked nations dependent on these routes face compounding challenges. Ethiopia’s primary humanitarian corridor through Djibouti is under increasing strain.”
He emphasized that UNICEF is nearing a critical point where annual transport contributions from logistics partners may be fully depleted.
