Editing Convoy (section)

===Humanitarian aid convoys===
The word "convoy" is also associated with groups of road vehicles being driven, mostly by volunteers, to deliver [[humanitarian aid]], supplies, and—a stated objective in some cases—"solidarity".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aidconvoy.net/links.htm|title=Aid Convoy (charitable organisation) information on partners|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070428163748/http://www.aidconvoy.net/links.htm|archive-date=2007-04-28}}</ref>

In the 1990s these convoys became common traveling from [[Western Europe]] to countries of the former [[Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia|Yugoslavia]], in particular [[Bosnia and Herzegovina|Bosnia]] and [[Kosovo]], to deal with the aftermath of the wars there. They also travel to countries where standards of care in institutions such as orphanages are considered low by Western European standards, such as [[Romania]]; and where other disasters have led to problems, such as around the [[Chernobyl disaster]] in [[Belarus]] and [[Ukraine]].

The convoys are made possible partly by the relatively small geographic distances between the stable and affluent countries of Western Europe, and the areas of need in [[Eastern Europe]] and, in a few cases, [[North Africa]] and even [[Iraq]]. They are often justified because although less directly cost-effective than mass freight transport, they emphasise the support of large numbers of small groups, and are quite distinct from multinational organisations such as [[United Nations]] humanitarian efforts.