In conjunction with the 52nd Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (27- February – 4 April), Caritas Internationalis (CI) together with the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA), World Council of Churches (WCC) and ACT Alliance have launched their joint report ‘Assessing the Impact of Sanctions on Humanitarian Work’ in partnership with the Geneva Graduate Institute.
The complexity of sanction regimes often causes uncertainty and additional burden on humanitarian organisations and has far-reaching consequences on populations in need of aid. “When responding to emergencies, it is crucial to detect and address all possible obstacles undermining timely life-saving assistance,” says Floriana Polito, Caritas Internationalis Advocacy Officer for Human Rights and Humanitarian Policy.
In the light of the recent tragedy affecting populations in Syria and Turkey, the impact of sanctions on vulnerable populations is clearly evident. According to Dr. Nabil Antaki, a practising gastroenterologist from Aleppo, the sanctions on Syria greatly impacted the emergency humanitarian response in the country, in three ways: lack of heavy machinery needed for search and rescue efforts; reduced reconstruction and investment needed for safe and durable housing; and the lack of access to modern life-saving medical equipment.
Dr. Antaki is calling on political actors, particularly in Western countries, to put pressure on governments to lift the sanctions against Syria: “The Syrian people have suffered a lot in the last 12 years and it is time for the Syrian people to live in dignity.” To date and only one month since the deadly earthquakes and aftershocks in the Middle Eastern region, it is reported that an estimated 50,000 people are dead and an additional 110,000 have been left injured. These figures continue to rise as search and rescue efforts continue in both Syria and Turkey.
Report on the impact of sanctions on humanitarian work was presented at a side-event of 52nd session at the Human Rights Council of the United Nations in Geneva on 10 March 2023.
However, Mr Karam Yazbeck, Regional Coordinator, Caritas Middle East and North Africa insists that while exemptions are a step forward, more is still needed to help those who are suffering in Syria: “Humanitarian exemptions alone are not enough to address long term negative effects of sanctions on the vulnerable population which is already suffering dramatic consequences of the civil war.”
The ‘Assessing the Impact of Sanctions on Humanitarian Work’ report identified two broad groups of challenges faced by CI, WEA, and WCC in providing humanitarian aid to affected populations in sanctioned countries: administrative and operational.
Administrative challenges include: understanding sanctions requirements, legal negative effects in applying for licences and due diligence measures. In order to overcome these administrative challenges, the report recommends humanitarian organisations apply for licences that exempt them from the cost and requirements of sanctions. Furthermore to shift the focus towards license applications rather than on project implementation.
On the other hand, in order to minimise the operational challenges (such as the transferal of funds, importing and exporting goods, and travel restrictions, the report recommends humanitarian organisations the use of informal value transfer systems or bulk cash movements. As well as to maintain financial flexibility through the use of emergency funds and several banking channels in order to prevent time delays, increase UN contracts which are exempt from sanctions.
“The humanitarian impact of unilateral coercive measures is enormous,” emphasised the United Nations’ Special Rapporteur Prof. Alena Douhan at the event. “Humanitarian organizations should not be at risk of not being able to do their important work due to secondary sanctions”, concluded Douhan welcoming the release of the research paper.