• Nigeria has seen fuel prices surge by nearly 50%, putting life-saving health services at risk as clinics struggle to power critical equipment and mobile health teams scale back operations

  • Uganda: rising fuel and transport costs are constraining aid delivery and driving inflation, pushing food prices higher for vulnerable households.

  • Sudan: $130,000 worth of pharmaceutical supplies for IRC’s Sudan program, enough to support approximately 20,000 people, is currently stranded in Dubai due to shipping disruptions

  • Ethiopia: Fuel shortages and rising costs have started to disrupt IRC operations, forcing restrictions on field movements, delaying the transport of program supplies, and increasing the risk of missed implementation deadlines and reduced delivery of aid

  • Somalia: 668 boxes of ready-to-use therapeutic food (worth $34,700), currently stranded in India, could save the lives of over 1,000 severely malnourished children in IRC clinics in Somalia

  • Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC): Fuel price spikes and distribution disruptions are already constraining IRC operations, reducing mobility, increasing logistics costs, and delaying aid delivery, with knock-on impacts on services

30 March 2026 —  The International Rescue Committee (IRC) is warning that the war in Iran and disruption to the Strait of Hormuz will push humanitarian operations to a breaking point if the crisis persists, as soaring fuel prices, supply chain delays, and rising costs begin to choke life-saving services across crisis-affected countries. These shocks come on top of an already strained humanitarian system, following significant global cuts to funding last year, further compounding pressure on IRC operations and the wider sector.

What is unfolding is a logistics crisis that is a rapidly escalating humanitarian threat. Fuel is the backbone of humanitarian response. It powers hospitals, keeps vaccines cold, enables ambulances to move, and allows aid to reach communities cut off by conflict and crisis, particularly in areas where electricity supply is unreliable. As prices spike and supply tightens, those systems are beginning to fail.

Bob Kitchen, IRC Vice President for Emergencies, said:

“This is how a global crisis becomes a humanitarian one. Fuel shortages and supply delays don’t stay contained, they ripple outward, shutting down services, driving up food prices, and cutting off access to care.”

“We are already seeing the consequences. Clinics scaling back. Outreach reduced. Costs rising faster than budgets can keep up. Without supply chains being restored or an injection of funding to counter rising costs, this will translate directly into more people going without the services they rely on to survive.”

Kenya is facing acute fuel shortages, with rationing already underway, and the consequences are immediate and severe in places like Kakuma or Dadaab refugee camps. As the largest provider of health services in Kakuma refugee camp, serving over 200,000 people, IRC is seeing reduced diesel supply disrupt power for critical medical equipment, including oxygen and vaccine cold chains, while constraining ambulance referrals and emergency services such as surgery and maternal care. Water systems reliant on fuel-powered boreholes are also at risk, increasing the likelihood of disease outbreaks. As access to care, clean water, and timely referrals is reduced, conditions that would normally be survivable are becoming life-threatening.

In Somalia, already reeling from years of conflict and climate shocks including repeated droughts and floods that have driven widespread malnutrition, IRC is now facing further strain as critical supplies such as ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF) remain stranded in India, delaying life-saving treatment for children. In areas like Galmadug, severely impacted by malnutrition, IRC operational expenses have risen by up to 30%, causing delays in the movement of supplies and reducing IRC field presence.

In Nigeria, IRC clinics face the real prospect of scaling back services as generators become too costly to run consistently. Mobile health teams are already reducing coverage, leaving vulnerable communities without access to care. Across IRC operations globally, including Uganda, DRC and Kenya, rising transport costs are forcing humanitarian organizations to stretch already limited budgets, slowing operations and shrinking their reach.

Disruptions in the Middle East and Red Sea are forcing ships to reroute around the Cape of Good Hope, adding weeks to delivery times and driving up costs. Critical supplies, from medicines to nutrition support, are being delayed, with some shipments stranded mid-route. IRC currently has $130,000 of pharmaceutical supplies that could support up to 20,000 people, stuck in Dubai intended for Sudan, where needs are already at catastrophic levels.

The most severe consequences will be felt in households already reeling from conflict, disasters, and displacement. Fuel shocks are pushing up the cost of food and basic goods, while rising fertiliser prices threaten the next planting seasons across multiple regions. For families already on the brink, this means eating less, earning less, and facing even fewer options to cope.

If the situation continues, the impact will cascade rapidly: fewer services, higher food prices, reduced incomes, and rising hunger. What begins as a disruption to fuel and shipping risks becoming a full-scale deterioration in humanitarian conditions, hitting the world’s poorest communities the hardest.

The IRC has also issued urgent recommendations to protect civilians and ensure humanitarian aid can reach those most affected by the escalating violence, including: