These results were driven by the systems that underpin the UNHRD network, including smarter pre‑positioning, improved stock management, more efficient joint movements and a training and simulation programme that strengthened readiness and impact in the real world.
This year also highlighted how UNHRD not only contributes to WFP’s strategic priorities, but also moves – concretely – in the direction of the UN80 agenda. We helped safeguard lives in fast‑moving emergencies, reinforced resilience through better preparedness tools and reliable equipment and worked alongside governments and national responders to support their own crisis responses. All of these achievements, together with advances in innovation and quality testing, strengthened common standards and expanded access to cleaner energy solutions. They also helped ensure that relief items are more dependable across the humanitarian system.
Although 2025 marked UNHRD’s 25th anniversary, the value of those years was reflected not in celebration but in performance. The network delivered with maturity, steadiness and a spirit of collaboration that has become its defining strength. None of this would be possible without our donors, host governments and partners, whose trust and cooperation make UNHRD the high‑functioning and resilient platform it is today.
As we look ahead, our commitment remains clear: to deliver fast, reliable support now while strengthening the systems that will shape humanitarian response for years to come. Please take a moment to enjoy this Year in Review and reflect on our collective achievements.
Best Regards,
Walid Ibrahim
World Food Programme
UNHRD Network Coordinator, Dubai, UAE
Number of consignments
59
Partners
9
Countries reached
19
Volume m3
3,845.66
Weight MT
836.02
Value of goods (USD)
4,103,910.91
Number of consignments
32
Partners
6
Countries reached
20
Volume m3
2,102.69
Weight MT
571.68
Value of goods (USD)
2,715,873.69
Number of consignments
28
Partners
7
Countries reached
6
Volume m3
2,957.29
Weight MT
682.23
Value of goods (USD)
2,965,917.23
Number of consignments
104
Partners
16
Countries reached
19
Volume m3
3,185.62
Weight MT
736.94
Value of goods (USD)
4,663,644.06
Number of consignments
348
Partners
30
Countries reached
76
Volume m3
24,638.89
Weight MT
5,070.73
Value of goods (USD)
44,469,152.85
Beyond WFP’s own use of the hubs for support equipment and lifesaving food assistance, a diverse group of UN agencies, NGOs and government partners continued to draw on UNHRD services to respond rapidly to crises across the globe.
The top ten organizations accessing UNHRD services globally in 2025 were:
The top items shipped:
With Sudan enduring one of the world’s largest humanitarian emergencies in 2025, families uprooted by fighting were left struggling to stay warm, safe and nourished. UNHRD supported the response by mobilizing blankets, high‑energy biscuits, WASH kits, multipurpose tents and plastic sheeting on behalf of partner organizations assisting people inside Sudan. Most humanitarian supplies were routed through Chad, which served as a vital corridor for reaching communities cut off by the conflict.
As essential services collapsed across Gaza and repeated displacement made everyday survival precarious, communities sought safety, warmth and dignity under extremely constrained conditions.
Despite several access issues, UNHRD managed to deliver emergency tents, tarpaulins, winterization materials and reproductive health kits to humanitarian partners on the ground to help affected people protect themselves and maintain access to basic care.
In Haiti, where widespread violence and displacement disrupted access to shelter, electricity and basic services, many families were forced to move repeatedly in search of safety.
UNHRD delivered reproductive health kits, blankets, tarpaulins, solar lamps and kitchen sets to partners organizations on the ground, helping households navigate daily life in unstable conditions.
When a powerful earthquake struck central Myanmar, entire towns were damaged and families found themselves without safe places to sleep or store belongings as aftershocks continued.
UNHRD promptly mobilized camping cots, multipurpose tents, plastic sheeting, kitchen sets and jerry cans to support shelter, rest and access to clean water.
The earthquake in eastern Afghanistan struck remote mountain communities where many families were already living in exposed conditions, with limited shelter and few essential household items. UNHRD mobilized blankets, winterization kits, multipurpose tents, kitchen sets and jerry cans so that affected people could protect themselves from the elements and meet basic needs during the first weeks of the response.
Hurricane Melissa tore across the Caribbean as one of the strongest storms ever recorded in the region, destroying homes, damaging hospitals and disrupting power and water supplies for millions. UNHRD supported the humanitarian community by delivering multipurpose tents, generators, blankets, kitchen sets and tarpaulins to help families regain safe shelter and restart daily routines.
Cyclone Ditwah triggered severe flooding and landslides across Sri Lanka, forcing hundreds of thousands from their homes and limiting access to food and safe shelter. UNHRD mobilized high energy biscuits and tarpaulin sheeting to support immediate nutrition and basic protection from the elements.
In 2025, the UNHRD Training and Simulation Academy in Brindisi strengthened humanitarian preparedness by hosting a full schedule of simulations and workshops for responders from around the world. The Academy hosted training courses for participants in life-like field conditions using its extensive outdoor grounds, modular structures and specialized role-play capabilities. With attendees coming from more than 65 countries, Brindisi continued to bring the global humanitarian community together to build practical skills and operational readiness.
All world regions represented (Africa, Asia, Middle East, Europe, Americas, Pacific)
Strengthening a global network of professionals
In 2025, UNHRD delivered a full suite of inhouse training that strengthened both the technical and soft skills capabilities of its global workforce. Staff from all hubs and numerous WFP duty stations took part in learning activities that reinforced teamwork, leadership, digital readiness and operational practice. This included two Build & Go courses, which equipped WFP colleagues with hands-on field installation skills (see spotlight), alongside the Wayfinders leadership journey and a series of Learning Bites, Essential Skills sessions, work planning workshops and cross functional exchanges. Together, these activities contributed to a more connected, skilled and agile UNHRD community.
Why it matters
In 2025, UNHRD delivered two Build & Go courses in Brindisi that gave WFP staff hands-on experience installing the field infrastructure they deploy in emergencies. Through practical, technician supported exercises, participants learned to set up prefabs, semipermanent storage units, cold chain assets, water purification systems and photovoltaic power kits. Staff came from duty stations across every WFP region, meaning the skills strengthened through Build & Go now support real operations in some of WFP’s most challenging contexts.
Global operational footprint of participants
The Stock Task Force doubled down UNHRD’s preparedness and coordination efforts by progressing on 5 key initiatives enhancing transparency, accountability, and oversight across all hubs
With these steps, UNHRD’s stock management is now more transparent, efficient, and better aligned with the real-world needs of emergency response.
UNHRD’s temperature‑sensitive logistics (TSL) work strengthened national health systems by training local teams, improving cold‑chain capacity and supporting reliable delivery of essential medicines across 20 countries.
Raising the quality and sustainability of relief items
Throughout 2025, the Lab tested and validated many commonly used relief items including generators, shelters, solar equipment, handling tools, and packaging materials. This work ensures that items sent to emergencies are more durable, more sustainable, and better suited to local conditions. The Lab also supported wider efforts to improve quality and sustainability through joint standards and environmental assessments.
Why it matters: Better tested and more sustainable items strengthen the entire supply chain and help ensure that assistance reaches families safely and efficiently.
Reducing plastic waste in emergency settings
Plastic waste can quickly accumulate during a crisis and can cause health and environmental risks. Working with partners in 2025, the Lab advanced the design of a mobile recycling unit that can transform collected plastic waste into simple tools or parts needed for shelters. The team worked on the technical concept and prepared prototype acquisition and pilot testing.
Why it matters: this activity supports cleaner operations and opens the door to turning waste into useful resources that benefit communities in crisis.
Expanding access to clean energy for field operations
The Lab accelerated the solar container project by refining the system and moving it into full‑scale testing. The unit uses foldable solar panels and advanced battery storage to replace fuel‑powered generators and keep operations running when grid power fails. In 2025, the team launched a live pilot at the Brindisi hub to see how the system performs under real operating pressures and daily humanitarian workloads.
Why it matters: cleaner and more reliable power reduces costs, lowers emissions, and improves the continuity of essential field operations.
Improving personal safety and resilience
Refined in 2025, the resilience kit includes key survival items such as lighting, water purification tools, and cooking essentials, all packed into one compact bag. The Lab also strengthened the kit’s psychosocial element by adding small items that help people stay calm, connected and oriented during sudden displacement, including a wind‑up radio, whistle and a simple comfort item for children. The result is a kit that supports both physical safety and emotional stability in the first hours of crisis.
Why it matters: the kit helps protect both the physical wellbeing and emotional stability of people who have been forced to flee.
Helping deliver safe water during emergencies
The Lab kicked off a pillar project, First Drop, with partners to eventually design and refine a compact, low‑energy water treatment systems that can be deployed in the first 24 to 48 hours of an emergency, when water networks often fail. By creating a solution that reduces reliance on bottled water and fuel‑intensive trucking, the team aims to give affected families faster access to safe drinking water. Working closely with the WFP Innovation Accelerator, through the new program HIPER, the Lab will combine field insights with technical expertise to move the system toward real‑world testing and operational use.
Why it matters: this project supports faster and more cost-effective access to clean water at the most critical moment of a response.
In 2025, INITIATE² reached a new level of impact. The Infectious Disease Treatment Module (IDTM) supported Ebola response efforts in the Democratic Republic of Congo, proving it can be deployed quickly and operated effectively in real emergencies.
The year also marked a major shift toward African leadership, with health authorities and emergency teams from countries including the DRC, Guinea, Malawi and Uganda shaping, adapting and training on the system. A regional “train the trainer” workshop in Uganda equipped 90 responders to install and run the IDTM themselves, strengthening local readiness for future outbreaks. Alongside this, INITIATE² continued improving practical personal protective equipment options with responders to ensure safer, more comfortable protection in the field. Together, these efforts show how locally driven innovation can put stronger tools directly in the hands of the people responding first.
European Union Humanitarian Aid continued to play a major role in reinforcing UNHRD’s global emergency response capacity. Over the past year, the EU consolidated its regional humanitarian stockpiles across the UNHRD hubs in Brindisi, Dubai, Panama and Kuala Lumpur, ensuring partners could access critical supplies close to where crises unfold.
The EU also expanded its in-kind air support, activating more than 32 humanitarian flights and air rotations that moved 2,375 metric tons of relief items, medical supplies and equipment on behalf of 21 partners. These operations brought life-saving assistance to communities affected by sudden and protracted crises—including Gaza, DRC, Sudan, Myanmar, Afghanistan and the Caribbean—illustrating the EU’s central role in keeping humanitarian pipelines open when they matter most.
Ghana continued its important role as host of the UNHRD Accra hub in 2025, providing the strategic platform that underpins humanitarian logistics across West and Central Africa.
The Government of Ghana deepened its engagement with UNHRD through meetings with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to address customs related challenges and strengthen long-term support for hub operations. Ghana also took part in key international coordination efforts, with its representative attending the Second Conference of Countries Hosting the Humanitarian Hubs in Brindisi to reinforce shared commitments to emergency preparedness.
The year saw closer collaboration with national institutions, including NADMO and Ghana Customs, contributing to smoother humanitarian cargo movements and fostering stronger regional disaster readiness efforts.
Irish Aid is a longstanding and trusted partner of UNHRD, providing flexible support that strengthened the Network’s ability to serve the wider humanitarian community. Ireland’s contribution kept UNHRD’s core operations running smoothly, helping maintain global hubs, protect essential preparedness systems and ensure rapid response when crises struck.
This dependable backing allowed UNHRD to bridge funding gaps, bolster the pre-positioning of life-saving relief items and act quickly during sudden-onset emergencies. Irish Aid’s commitment to principled, timely humanitarian action is critical to UNHRD’s ability to deliver assistance wherever it is most needed.
In 2025, Italy played a leading role in UNHRD’s 25th anniversary year as its founding donor, supporting the Brindisi hub and convening the global Conference of Countries Hosting the World’s Humanitarian Hubs.
Italian backing enabled major emergency operations across the network, including support to the large-scale Gaza response through the Food for Gaza initiative, which delivered thousands of tons of food and relief supplies and equipped WFP with trucks and logistical assets for last mile distribution
Italy also pushed its commitment to the Italy for Sudan initiative, helping displaced families in Port Sudan affected by conflict and food insecurity. Beyond operations, Italian contributions helped advance UNHRD’s innovation agenda, from next generation clean energy systems to the first real-world deployment of the Infectious Disease Treatment Module during the 2025 Ebola response in the DRC.
The Government of Malaysia continued to play a key role as host of the UNHRD Kuala Lumpur hub, providing the strategically located regional platform that enables rapid, reliable humanitarian response across Southeast Asia. Throughout 2025, the hub supported urgent dispatches for communities affected by the Myanmar earthquake and severe storms in Viet Nam and the Philippines, ensuring life-saving supplies reached people quickly. Malaysia also strengthened regional preparedness by advancing capacity-building and South-South cooperation in partnership with the ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on Disaster Management (AHA Centre) and Malaysia’s National Disaster Management Agency (NADMA). Through these efforts, Malaysia helped reinforce a more coordinated and capable humanitarian system across the region.
Continuing its essential role as host of the UNHRD hub in 2025, Panama provided the facilities that anchor humanitarian logistics for Latin America and the Caribbean. The Government of Panama also cohosted UNHRD’s 25th anniversary celebration at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, bringing together regional partners to discuss strengthened emergency logistics. Panama also enabled key coordination moments for the humanitarian community, including support for regional disaster preparedness discussions and high-level visits that underscored the hub’s importance for rapid response. Through its continued partnership, Panama remained a critical enabler of the humanitarian supply chain serving the wider region.
Switzerland continued to be a steady and strategic supporter of the UNHRD Network, providing financial contributions that help sustain the backbone of our global operations. This support enables UNHRD to maintain essential services, preserve critical preparedness systems and keep pre-positioned relief stocks available where they are needed most. By helping bridge key funding gaps, Switzerland strengthens the Network’s ability to respond rapidly and reliably to emergencies around the world. Its partnership remains an important pillar in ensuring that life-saving assistance can reach vulnerable communities without delay.
As host and major donor of the UNHRD Dubai hub, the United Arab Emirates continued to provide the world-class infrastructure and enabling environment that make Dubai one of the fastest and most reliable humanitarian logistics platforms globally.
With this support, UNHRD dispatched over 345 consignments to 74 countries on behalf of 28 humanitarian partners, moving 4,620 metric tons of life-saving food, medical supplies and relief items (equivalent to 28,320 metric tons) through a mix of air, sea, land and multimodal operations. These shipments helped sustain major emergency responses in Afghanistan, Sudan, Gaza, Sri Lanka and other high-need contexts across Africa, the Middle East and Asia.
Dubai Humanitarian also reinforced global coordination by serving as Secretariat of the Second Conference of Countries Hosting the World’s Humanitarian Hubs, underscoring the UAE’s leadership in shaping the Global Safety Net and ensuring rapid, dependable assistance to communities affected by crises worldwide.
Together with our donors, host governments and partners, we will deepen our support to national responders through capacity strengthening, better preparedness tools and smoother supply chain pathways that help crises be met closer to where they begin. We will also carry forward progress in clean energy, quality assurance, and field driven innovation so that every item and service we provide is safer, more sustainable and better matched to local realities. With continued partnership and shared commitment, UNHRD will help save lives, be ready to respond fast and empower national systems to answer the call of emergencies long into the future.
The overall performance of the Network was strong, with 75 per cent of performance indicators marked as “fully achieved.” This was thanks to the excellent coordination of long-standing and new partners, the reliable support of UNHRD donors and the dedication of UNHRD staff across all hubs.
Performance on emergency preparedness and emergency response indicators continues to stand out. Thanks to the efforts of the Stock Task Force, most of the space in UNHRD warehouses is now dedicated to storing critical relief items. This enables partners to respond to emergencies in the most relevant and effective way while ensuring operational efficiency.
Analysis also shows that most emergency operations were completed within 72 hours, confirming that timeliness and responsiveness remain at the core of UNHRD’s value proposition.
Another achievement was from UNHRD’s Temperature‑Sensitive Logistics (TSL) team, which responded to the needs of humanitarian partners and national institutions by delivering TSL equipment and providing training to ensure their correct use and maintenance.
As a followup to the needs assessment conducted last year, in 2025 UNHRD rolled out a comprehensive training scheme for its staff, identifying and delivering capacity‑development opportunities tailored to each employee’s skill set and role within the network.
The UNHRD Training and Simulation Academy in Brindisi continues to serve as a central reference for humanitarian organizations looking to enhance and expand staff skills and capacities.
The year 2025 posed several challenges to UN system entities and humanitarian partners. Funding gaps across the UN system also hindered the achievement of two UNHRD performance indicators.
The rollout of the barcode/QR code management system has been postponed to 2027; however, UNHRD is steadily advancing preparatory activities, including warehouse mapping and procurement.
UNHRD’s performance on replenishment time did not meet the target set for 2025. Evidence shows that the replenishment process is influenced by several factors related to the manufacturing, procurement, and transportation of relief items, some of which fall outside UNHRD’s control. Following an internal assessment and lessons learned, UNHRD has already identified and implemented measures to mitigate risks arising from lengthy replenishment processes. These actions will have a crucial impact on strengthening the Network and partners’ emergency preparedness capacity.
First, UNHRD hubs have increased their suppliers’ stock physically stored at their facilities (also known as white stock). These supplier stocks are used for fast procurement, helping reduce replenishment time for partners who rely on UNHRD to restock non-food items deployed during emergency response. In some cases, and when deemed efficient, suppliers have arranged transportation of goods to reduce waiting times at ports.
In parallel, the Stock Task Force has worked to standardize the technical specifications of commonly requested relief items, facilitating and supporting loan-and-borrow processes among partners. Similarly, the introduction of a clear allocation framework for partner-held stock safeguards the availability of critical relief items for future emergency operations. Furthermore, the preparation and dissemination of updated guidance and policies reinforce this approach by ensuring that items can be easily reassigned among partners when operationally required. Together, these efforts are contributing to more consistent and cost‑effective practices for prepositioning and managing relief items.
Looking ahead, in 2026 UNHRD will also place greater emphasis on local procurement of goods where feasible, with the aim of reducing transportation time and further strengthening responsiveness to partners’ needs.
