UN launches task force aimed at ensuring humanitarian supplies through Strait of Hormuz

UNITED NATIONS, Mar 28 (APP): UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres Friday announced the launch of a dedicated task force to develop mechanisms to ensure the safe passage of humanitarian supplies and essential agricultural goods through the Strait of Hormuz.

This move comes amid a near-total halt in traffic through the key waterway due to the ongoing U.S.-Israel war on Iran, threatening global food security and aid operations.

“As the conflict in the Middle East unfolds and threatens to intensify, disruptions in maritime trade through the Strait risk creating ripple effects impacting humanitarian needs and agricultural production in the coming months,” UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric, told reporters at UN Headquarters in New York.

Dujarric added that “immediate action is essential to mitigate these consequences.”

The Task Force will be led by Jorge Moreira da Silva, Executive Director of United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS), and will include representatives from the UN Conference on Trade and Development, the International Maritime Organization, and the International Chamber of Commerce. Additional entities may be invited to participate as needed.
It will be operationalized “in close consultation with relevant Member States,” Dujarric said, adding that Pakistan was contacted among the key states so far.

“While the Secretary-General is committed to making every effort to achieve a comprehensive and durable settlement of the conflict, immediate action is essential to mitigate these consequences,” he said.
The new mechanism for the Strait of Hormuz aims to facilitate fertilizer trade, including the movement of related raw materials, and its operationalization will be done in close consultation with relevant UN member states with full respect for national sovereignty and established international legal frameworks, Dujarric said.

“If successful, it would also create confidence among Member States on the diplomatic approach to the conflict and constitute a valuable step towards a wider political settlement,” he said.

According to the spokesperson, the task force is led by UN Under-Secretary-General Jorge Moreira da Silva, executive director of the UN Office for Project Services, and will include representatives from the UN Conference on Trade and Development, the International Maritime Organization, and the International Chamber of Commerce. Additional entities may be invited to participate as needed.

As part of his broader peacemaking mandate, the secretary-general’s personal envoy, Jean Arnault, will lead political engagement with relevant UN member states, supported by the task force, Dujarric added.

According to the UN maritime organization, IMO, around 2,000 vessels and 20,000 seafarers have been affected by the war and the shipping crunch in the Strait.

Earlier this week, in a letter to the IMO, the Iranian authorities said that all “non-hostile” ships would be granted safe passage.
A short while ago, Brent crude was trading at $110.82 a barrel. A day before the Israeli and US bombing campaign started, the price was around $72.