Field Guidelines

Introduction

1.1 Objectives and application of the Field Guidelines

Partner to IASC
Sanctions
Assessment
Handbook

This set of Field Guidelines is intended to provide guidance to humanitarian practitioners in identifying and measuring possible humanitarian consequences of sanctions. This document is a concise, field-oriented version of a partner publication—an IASC handbook entitled “Assessing the Humanitarian Implications of Sanctions”—which provides more detailed information on how to assess potential impacts of sanctions on living conditions.

The Guidelines presented here are relevant to a range of sanctions, including: arms embargoes, financial sanctions, travel-related sanctions and targeted trade sanctions. At the core of these Guidelines is a sanctions assessment methodology, which facilitates evaluation of possible humanitarian consequences of sanctions. The methodology can be applied in advance of, during or following sanctions, and aims to address two key challenges associated with humanitarian assessments under sanctions: (I) accurate evaluation of the current status of humanitarian conditions, and (II) separation of the effects of sanctions on health and well-being from those due to other causes.

Methodology
does not
presuppose
impact

The sanctions assessment methodology does not presuppose a particular type of impact due to sanctions, which may be positive, neutral or negative depending on the specific context.

1.2 Conceptual framework

Two clusters:
“4+4” human
security subject
areas.

The conceptual framework underpinning the sanctions assessment methodology is based on the concept of human security. This approach operationalizes human security by defining two clusters of humanitarian and socio-economic conditions, each of which contains four subject areas. These are referred to as the “4 + 4” human security subject areas.

Core cluster:
health, food
and nutrition,
WATSAN
education

The core cluster of four subject areas comprises groups of indicators of conditions related to immediate survival and development of humans. The subject areas in this cluster are: (1) health; (2) food and nutrition; (3) water and sanitation; and (4) education. Taken together, these four pillars represent the “vital core” of human security.

Systemic
cluster:
governance,
economic
status, physical
environment,
demography

The second cluster deals with the systems and social context in which people strive to secure core human needs. The subject areas of this systemic cluster are: (1) governance; (2) economic status; (3) the physical environment; and (4) demography. Most of these data will be at the level of groups of persons or communities.

These two clusters of subject areas—the “core” and “systemic” clusters—provide a template covering most of the essential sectors and indicators for assessing and tracking humanitarian conditions.

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