MAYS IBRAHIM (ABU DHABI)
The World Food Programme’s Dubai humanitarian logistics hub has dispatched more than 5,500 metric tonnes of essential humanitarian cargo so far this year, exceeding the volume moved during 2025, said a senior WFP official in an exclusive interview to Aletihad.
The Dubai hub, the largest in WFP’s global network of UN Humanitarian Response Depots, has played a key role in moving aid to crisis-hit countries as global supply chains face growing disruption and humanitarian needs continue to rise.
This reach was made possible by the UAE’s location and global connectivity.
“The UAE offers a rare combination that few locations can match,” said Alex Marianelli, WFP Director of Supply Chain in UAE.
He cited “its proximity to major areas of humanitarian need across the Middle East, Africa, and Asia; its world-class infrastructure and exceptional air, sea, and road connections; the depth of its logistics and supplier markets; and, crucially, the strong, practical support of the UAE authorities".
The Dubai hub has historically handled around 60% of all cargo moving through WFP’s six UN Humanitarian Response Depots worldwide.
In 2025, assistance dispatched from Dubai reached 76 countries. So far this year, cargo has been sent to dozens more, including to support the Ebola response in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, floods in Madagascar and Mozambique, and ongoing operations in Afghanistan.
WFP estimates that supplies dispatched from Dubai can reach approximately one-third of the people it serves within three hours and around two-thirds within seven hours.
The hub’s activity has remained high despite disruptions to major shipping routes, which have made global supply chains “slower, more expensive, and less predictable,” Marianelli said.
“Delays can affect when essential food and other relief supplies reach communities, while higher transport costs mean that already limited humanitarian funding cannot go as far,” he noted.
Instability affecting key maritime corridors in and around the Middle East has been among the most acute logistical challenges, according to WFP.
Disruptions can force vessels to divert to alternative ports, while cargo may need to be shifted to land or air transport, increasing pressure on available capacity and raising costs.
WFP has responded by shifting urgent cargo to air transport, expanding land and multimodal routes, redirecting shipments through alternative ports and positioning essential supplies in advance.
“The UAE has been central to maintaining this continuity,” Marianelli said, citing its seaports, airports and road connections, as well as the capacity of its logistics sector.
“Practical support from the UAE authorities – including help navigating customs and other operational requirements – has enabled urgent cargo to keep moving,” he added.
WFP dispatched around 770 tonnes of cargo to 19 countries during the first two months of 2026. That rose to more than 2,800 tonnes to 28 countries between March and May, followed by a further 1,900 tonnes to 39 countries since June.
“The significance lies not only in the volume, but in the hub’s ability to support multiple operations around the world simultaneously – each with different requirements, routes, and timelines,” Marianelli noted.
“Doing so means keeping a wide range of relief supplies ready, responding to changing needs, and continually adapting transport arrangements as conditions evolve.”
The WFP official also pointed out that the UAE’s role extends beyond financial support, providing WFP with access to logistics capacity, technology, innovation and private-sector expertise.
The UAE’s election to WFP’s Executive Board in April has also added a strategic dimension to its relationship with the organisation, he said.
“The UAE brings a particularly relevant perspective,” Marianelli said. “It combines experience as a humanitarian donor and development partner with the practical knowledge of a major global commercial centre.”
“This can help connect high-level policy decisions with operational realities – enriching discussions on how WFP responds to rising needs and delivers assistance more efficiently and reliably in an increasingly complex world,” he added.
Marianelli warned that the global humanitarian system is facing a widening gap between growing needs and increasingly constrained funding.
“Humanitarian needs are rising, while the resources available to meet them are shrinking,” he said, adding that WFP is being forced to make increasingly difficult decisions over where and to what extent it can provide assistance to crisis-hit regions.
Greater efficiency, he said, can help stretch available funding further, but cannot replace the resources required to assist people facing hunger and crisis: “Sustained commitment from the international community is therefore essential if growing needs are not to be met with a diminishing response.”