UN reports growing support for Strait of Hormuz humanitarian corridor to avert food crisis

The UN on Monday reported that a growing number of countries are supporting the establishment of a humanitarian corridor mechanism through the Strait of Hormuz to prevent a massive food security crisis.

Providing an update on the work of Jorge Moreira da Silva, executive director of the UN Office of Partnership Services, who is leading the organization's task force on the Strait of Hormuz, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said during a news conference that da Silva's mission, announced last week, was postponed.

"But he will continue consultations this week in New York with key interlocutors on a mechanism for a humanitarian corridor," Dujarric said, adding: "There is a growing number of countries supporting the creation of such a mechanism to prevent a massive food security crisis."

He further emphasized the UN's continued stance on the Strait of Hormuz and said: "Our position remains the same, that the Strait of Hormuz needs to be reopened."

"Freedom of navigation needs to be reestablished. We need to see a return to what has been centuries of practice, of common law, which is freedom of navigation in these waters," he said.