LONDON: Volatile oil prices after six months of conflict in the Middle East have raised the cost of delivering humanitarian aid worldwide, putting lifesaving assistance for almost 1.5 million children at risk, Save the Children said on Thursday.
Crude oil prices surged at the onset of the US-Israeli war on Iran in February as oil and gas supplies moving through the Strait of Hormuz were disrupted.
Oil had been projected to average about $60 a barrel in 2026 before the fighting began, but rose as high as $126 by the end of April. It is now trading at about $90 a barrel, Reuters reported on Tuesday.
Save the Children said it modeled the effect of higher oil prices on commodities, supplies and logistics spending since the start of the conflict. The organization estimated that aid-delivery costs had risen by about $13 million — money that otherwise could have provided assistance to almost 1.5 million children.
“The conflict in the Middle East is not only putting children at risk in the region, but also globally because every spike in fuel prices drives up the cost of every truck, every shipment, every box of supplies we deliver around the world,” Willem Zuidema, Save the Children’s global supply chain director, said in a statement.
“We are being forced to spend more to reach fewer children.”
Higher fuel costs are degrading already strained humanitarian budgets, reducing the money available for food, medicine, clean water and other services for children and families affected by conflict and displacement.
Save the Children said the additional $13 million could have funded five 30-bed hospitals in Somalia for one year; five cholera treatment centers worldwide for six months; or six months of safe drinking water for 1,500 displaced families in Lebanon.
It also could have supported five child-friendly spaces in Syria, equipped 30 operating theaters worldwide to manage complicated deliveries, restored 50 schools in Sudan, or kept 47 health clinics in Afghanistan operating for six months.
The price shock has reverberated through global energy, trade and supply chains, raising the cost of food, fuel and medicines used to treat malnutrition and assist families displaced by conflict, the organization said.
Humanitarian groups typically set annual budgets using inflation forecasts and projected commodity prices.
Save the Children’s 2026 procurement budget was set before the conflict began, leaving the organization with limited flexibility to absorb the increase in fuel-related costs.
“Every extra dollar spent on rising oil prices is a dollar taken away from children who need lifesaving support,” Zuidema said. “This is happening at a time when aid cuts have already stripped humanitarian budgets to the barebones. There are no buffers left in the system.”
He called for a lasting peaceful resolution to the Iran conflict and sustained humanitarian funding so aid can reach children regardless of where they live.
Save the Children urged all parties to comply with international humanitarian law, including by allowing the unimpeded delivery of humanitarian assistance. It also called on the international community to increase humanitarian funding as governments reduce aid budgets and delivery costs rise.
