Save the Children says Iran-war oil shock added $13 million to aid costs
Save the Children says higher fuel, transport, food and medical-supply costs linked to the Iran conflict have added $13 million to its aid bill, reducing how many children it can reach.
In short
- Save the Children says higher fuel, transport, food and medical-supply costs linked to the Iran conflict have added $13 million to its aid bill, reducing how many children it can reach.
Save the Children says the oil-price shock linked to the conflict involving the United States and Iran has added $13 million to the cost of delivering humanitarian assistance worldwide.
The charity calculated that the additional spending on transport, fuel, food and medical supplies could otherwise have supported aid for about 1.5 million more children. It said the same amount was comparable to running 47 health clinics in Afghanistan for six months or five 30-bed hospitals in Somalia for a year.
Willem Zuidema, the organisation’s global supply-chain director, said every rise in fuel prices increases the cost of trucks, shipments and relief supplies. Save the Children operates in about 110 countries and said its health and nutrition programmes reached more than 30 million children last year.
The pressure comes as humanitarian agencies contend with shrinking aid budgets. According to figures cited in the source report from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, global aid spending fell 23 percent in real terms last year.
Save the Children said its teams are seeking alternative suppliers and transport routes to control costs. The charity’s estimates illustrate how an energy disruption centred in the Middle East can reduce the reach of assistance in countries far from the fighting.
