Opening Remarks
Humanitarian aid saves lives, millions of lives. And supply chains are the hidden engine behind this life-saving aid.
They get food into hungry mouths, water to thirsty lips, medicine into injured bodies, and shelter over people who are cold and wet. The supply chain is not a mysterious machine hiding in the back-office somewhere. It is one of the most powerful and strategic tools we have to reach the most vulnerable on this planet. So we need to treat them more strategically and make them fit for todays unpredictable world.
I have seen with my own eyes what supply chains can achieve, in Ukraine, Syria, Türkiye, Chad, Bangladesh, Colombia. Most recently I saw it in Egypt, in El Arish, where I met the women and children evacuated from Gaza. I visited warehouses filled with EU-funded bags of flour, medical kits, tents, and water for people living through famine.
These children dont talk about “supply chains”. They simply say: “I am thirsty. I am hungry. I am cold.” The aid in these warehouses doesnt fall from the sky or magically appear from nowhere. There is a long and complex journey behind each loaf of bread and each dose of medicine. All of you in this room help make this journey happen. You keep humanitarian aid flowing to the darkest corners of the world, and I want to personally thank you for that.
Today over 300 million people need aid across the world, and behind each of these people who receive aid is a supply chain, a lifeline. But today, crises are multiplying. Needs are up, funding is down dramatically, and supply chains are stretched to their limit. So we need to change how we work and adapt them to todays reality.
Violence, climate change, and poor governance — they all weaken supply chains. When supply chains break, people die. That is why we are here today, to work together to make our supply chains stronger, faster, greener, and able to withstand todays shocks. They need to keep working in todays messy reality, not in perfect conditions. Perfect conditions do not exist for humanitarian workers. Today it is about serving those in need, with the resources we have.
So how do we do that? Through smarter planning, cleaner transport, and flexible systems that keep going even when roads are washed out, ports are damaged, or communications collapse.
Supply chains account for 60 to 80% of all humanitarian spending, from procurement to delivery. That is why efficiency matters. It saves lives. And it also saves money. Every euro we save on logistics, for instance, is a euro we can spend on a sleeping bag for winter or a vaccine for a child.
We need to break down silos and adapt faster, by pooling warehouses, sharing cargo, sharing data in real time, and using new tools, especially the huge potential of Artificial Intelligence. We also need to empower local people on the ground. They are the first to act and the last to leave. When we make them stronger, we make the entire humanitarian system stronger.
President von der Leyen tasked me to lead the work on a new humanitarian Communication responding to the fast-changing humanitarian landscape, which the Commission will adopt next spring. It will reaffirm our European values and highlight the central role of supply chains in the future of humanitarian aid. It will present a more strategic approach to humanitarian supply chains, more coordinated, more efficient.
Last year, we launched the Humanitarian Leadership Group on Supply Chain. We promised to build a shared vision for the future of the humanitarian supply chain. Today we are delivering on that promise — donors, international organisations, NGOs, academia, and the private sector.
We are looking at supply chains from every angle: procurement, digitalisation, preparedness, localisation, and environmental sustainability. We have found ways to work smarter and strengthen partnerships. We started this journey almost one year ago, and today the pressure on supply chains is even greater. That is why we are taking a more strategic approach.
The humanitarian supply chain does not exist in a vacuum. It is deeply woven into the UN-led global humanitarian system. I am pleased to see that many of our ideas from the Humanitarian Leadership Group on Supply Chain feed into the Humanitarian Reset and the UN 80 initiative, especially the push for an integrated supply chain. This shows that our work is shaping global thinking.
We have momentum. Now we need to use it to strengthen our global response to the major crises we face today. No one delivers humanitarian aid alone. The daily work of thousands of field colleagues clearly shows this.
Last month, at the EU-funded Regional Logistics Centre in Panama, I saw local authorities, the EU, UNHRD-WFP, IFRC and NGOs working side by side to get aid to Jamaica and Cuba quickly after Hurricane Melissa. A few days later, at the UNICEFs Global Supply Division, in Copenhagen, I saw vaccines, medicines, and education kits for Sudan, Gaza, Afghanistan, and for children whose names we may never know, but whose lives depend on these supplies.
The global network of humanitarian hubs, from Brindisi to Dubai, is essential when national or regional systems are overwhelmed. We are also seeing a change in mindset. Partners are rethinking how we work together, and at the Commission we are taking action through our policies and financial support. Over the past three years, we have invested €20 million to strengthen coordination in supply chains, working with partners like Hulo, Global Logistics Cluster, WREC on Sustainability, and ESUPs on emergency prepositioning.
The past year has made one thing clear: the supply chain is not an abstract system running in the background. It is a chain made of people — nurses, pilots, truck drivers, volunteers, warehouse staff, humanitarian workers, and donors. A chain that stretches from a warehouse in Brindisi to a clinic in Sudan, from Copenhagen to Gaza, from Panama to Jamaica. Every link matters, every link saves one more life. Your insights today make that chain stronger and more reliable for the people who need it most.
Closing Remarks
The supply chain is not a backstage operation. It is how we get aid to those who need it most. Today showed something important: we share a clear vision for the future of humanitarian supply chains, and we are determined to make it happen. We are doing more than identifying problems. We are working on real solutions, based on cooperation, expertise, and a strategic purpose.
Supply chains are one of the strongest tools we have to deliver fairer humanitarian aid and next year must bring concrete results, such as better data flows, more efficient logistics, and stronger links to local markets. These are the operational needs, and to achieve them we must work together to break down silos, share risks, and build trust.
We are not waiting for change, we are building it. Supply chains are now part of strategic decision-making. Our next step is to expand this network, especially by bringing in more local communities. One year from now, we want to see more progress, such as a true network approach, better last-mile delivery with real-time data, lower emissions through consolidated transport, and more localisation. This is how we will move faster, save resources, and most importantly, deliver for the communities we serve.
The European Commission stands ready to support this work. We have just allocated an additional €5 million for this purpose. Next year, we plan to provide €10 million to push forward supply chain reform. As a major donor, we feel a strong responsibility. That is why we are deepening cooperation with other donors to align our approaches and our funding priorities.
We will meet again next year to assess our progress and continue these important reforms. Together we are strengthening the humanitarian lifeline to better protect the lives and dignity of the most vulnerable.
