Concerned by Unintended Negative Impact of Sanctions, Speakers in Security Council Urge Action to Better Protect Civilians, Ensure Humanitarian Needs Are Met, un.org

Efforts must better mitigate the unintended negative impact of sanctions and curtail unilateral coercive measures that continue to negatively affect the very populations they are meant to protect, delegates told the Security Council today.

United Nations sanctions are no longer the blunt instrument they once were, but concerns remain, said Rosemary DiCarlo, Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs.  As a prime example, she pointed to the continued difficulty in reviving the banking channel for humanitarian transfers to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, since its collapse in 2017.  Various resolutions make it clear that sanctions are “not intended to have adverse humanitarian consequences for the civilian populations”, she stated.

Highlighting several areas for action, she said Member States can minimize the burden of additional due diligence and reporting requirements on humanitarian actors by keeping their domestic legislation as close as possible to Council language.  Other vital actions include continued monitoring by the Council’s sanctions committees for possible negative consequences and increasing cooperation with humanitarian actors and the private sector.  More can also be done to reduce the possible adverse consequences of sanctions, she said, recalling the world’s welcome of Council resolution 2615 (2021), which carves out a humanitarian exemption to the sanctions regime on Afghanistan. Läs mötesprotokollet