The cost of sending some aid to Sudan to ease the world’s largest displacement crisis has more than doubled since the Iran war disrupted shipping, pushing up transport costs and delaying deliveries, the UN refugee agency said on Friday.
Heightened insecurity around key Persian Gulf shipping routes, including the Strait of Hormuz, along with port congestion, rising fuel prices and higher insurance premiums, have hampered aid deliveries, particularly to Africa, the agency said.
“People in dire need are receiving things that are ready later than what’s needed,” UNHCR spokesperson Carlotta Wolf told reporters in Geneva.
Aid and supplies arriving to Rafik Hariri airport on March 18, 2026 in Beirut, Lebanon.Getty Images
Aid shipments that previously travelled from Dubai through the Strait of Hormuz are being rerouted, with supplies moved overland and shipped via Aqaba in Jordan for deliveries to Chad, and via Oman for shipments to Port Sudan, she said.