Adding to the Evidence: The Impact of Sanctions and Restrictive Measures on Humanitarian Aid

This report captures the findings of an online survey on the impacts of sanctions and counter-terrorism (CT) restrictive measures on VOICE member NGOs, and the VOICE Webinar on EU Restrictive Measures and Humanitarian Aid: Between a principled view for exemptions and a pragmatic approach for an effective derogation process (December 2020). At the webinar, the preliminary findings of the survey were presented and a discussion took place between key stakeholders including VOICE members, and representatives from the European Commission, the Council of the EU’s Working Party on Sanctions, and the ICRC. The Webinar inputs and discussions are reflected in this report. The survey and webinar follow on from previous VOICE initiatives on this issue, including a 2-day Workshop held in Brussels in November 2019. VOICE has followed developments closely given that restrictive measures are becoming one of the most important issues for humanitarians, in terms of the impact on humanitarian access and operations.