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Compendium: High Level Review of United Nations Sanctions
organizations, and address ongoing and emerging challenges and opportunities in the implementation of UN sanctions regimes.
Germany joined Greece as a co-chair of a workshop held in Athens in
October 2014, specifically focused on the topic of minimising the humanitarian impact of sanctions. The working group’s meetings explored ways
to enhance collaboration and information-sharing among sanctions monitoring and humanitarian actors, including through pre-assessment/assessments in safeguarding against the unintended consequences of sanctions,
the adequacy of the current system of humanitarian exemptions, and means
to manage tensions between mandates that allow collaboration in achieving and reinforcing mutual goals. Working Group III also addressed the
interaction of the UN with regional organizations, including information
exchanges between UN sanctions committees and their counterparts, and
other mechanisms for enhancing the implementation of UN sanctions.
In conducting its work, Working Group III consulted a broad range of
actors including members of the Security Council, the UN Secretariat and
UN agencies, other Member States, UN expert groups, the Ombudsperson,
regional organizations, and civil society (e.g. non-governmental organizations (NGOs), academia). Written contributions assessing current sanctions
practices were solicited and appear on the working group webpage. Working group meetings were inclusive and collaborative, including practitioners
with extensive field experience in the implementation of UN sanctions and
humanitarian mandates, and former and current members of expert groups.
Participants’ practical experience dealing with challenges that may complicate the interaction between sanctions and humanitarian and human rights
actors proved valuable in providing fresh insights that challenged conventional thinking on relevant issues.
Working Group III also considered ongoing and emerging challenges
and ways in which sanctions might usefully play a role, which included
natural resources and the environment; the use of digital technologies and
the Internet for propagating hate speech, promoting terrorism through raising funds and recruitment; the protection of women and girls, among other
ongoing challenges such as due process and delisting concerns. The Working
Group III report is available on the HLR website.
C. Compendium results
This Compendium represents the output of the six-month intensive study
of UN targeted sanctions conducted by the three HLR working groups. It