New York, January 25, 2024 – The UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) said attacks on shipping in the Red Sea by Houthi rebels in Yemen has caused significant disruptions in shipments of grains and other key commodities from Europe, Russia and Ukraine.
The UN agency said the escalating crisis is leading to increased costs for consumers and posing serious risks to global food security, especially in regions like East Africa, South Asia, Southeast Asia and East Asia, which heavily rely on wheat imports from Europe and the Black Sea area.
“We are concerned that the attacks on Red Sea shipping are adding tensions to a context of global trade disruptions due to geopolitics and climate change,” said Jan Hoffmann, head of UNCTAD’s trade facilitation section.
He said maritime trade carries around 80 % of the goods the world trade, and the percentage is even higher for developing countries.
“These disruptions underline global trade’s vulnerability to geopolitical tensions and climate challenges,” Hoffmann said, adding that the situation will have a dramatic impact on shipping costs and rates and the container shipping sector is facing a significant challenge.
The agency said early data from 2024 showed that over 300 container vessels, over 20 % of global container capacity, were diverting from or planning alternatives to the Suez Canal. The canal connects the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea and handles about 12 % to 15 % of global trade in 2023.
The Houthi-led attacks in the Red Sea beginning of November 2023 have decreased trade volume through the Suez Canal by 42 % in the last two months and compelled some shipping industries to temporarily halt Suez transits and search for other routes.
“But other major routes are already under strain,” Hoffmann said, pointing that the war in Ukraine and other geopolitical tensions have reshaped oil and grain trade routes.
Compounding the shipping crisis, UNCTAD said the Panama Canal, a key route for global trade, has been hit by a severe drought which lowered its water levels to the lowest in decades and has severely reduced traffic through the canal. It said total transits through the canal were 36 % lower than one year ago and 62 % lower than two years ago.
UN says Houthi’s request to withdraw UN staff has no legal basis
The UN confirmed that Houthi rebels have demanded in a letter that UN staff in Sana’a be withdrawn.
Confirming the order from the de facto authorities, who control the capital Sana’a along with many other areas of the war-torn country, UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric told reporters that the demand ran counter to the legal conditions under which the UN and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) operate.
Dujarric stressed that “any request or requirement for UN staff to leave based solely on the nationality of that staff is inconsistent with the legal framework applicable to the UN.”
Dujarric noted that it also “impedes our ability to deliver on the mandate to support all of the people in Yemen, and we call on all the authorities in Yemen, to ensure that our staff can continue to perform their functions on behalf of the UN”.
The letter from the Houthi’s de facto foreign ministry in the capital was reportedly sent to the UN’s acting Humanitarian Coordinator, Peter Hawkins, himself a British national. It reportedly also ordered foreign organizations not to hire US and British personnel going forward.
Dujarric emphasized that UN staff “serve impartially and serve the flag of the UN – and none other”.
Houthi authorities in Yemen on Wednesday have ordered UN and other humanitarian staff holding US and UK passports to leave the country within a month.
United Nations correspondent journalists – United Nations correspondent journalists – United Nations correspondent journalists – United Nations journalism articles – United Nations journalism articles – United Nations journalism articles – United Nations News – United Nations News – United Nations News