Field Guidelines

Standards for humanitarian assessments

5.1 Key elements of a humanitarian assessment

Must present some determination of the degree to which sanctions affect humanitarian conditions	A sanctions assessment must present some determination of the degree to which sanctions are affecting humanitarian conditions, separate from the effects caused by other factors. In some circumstances it may only be possible to provide a qualitative assessment of the degree to which sanctions influence humanitarian conditions, or indeed it may be impossible to isolate the discrete effects of sanctions. In such cases, the investigator should highlight the indeterminacy of the situation. A credible assessment of the humanitarian implications of sanctions must include the following elements:
Baseline assessment	1.Characterization of the humanitarian conditions prior to the initiation of sanctions—“baseline” conditions—including a vulnerability assessment;
Sources of information	2. Specification of the sources of information used, the quality and limitations of those sources;
Vulnerability	3. Specification of the components of the sanctions regulations that could affect humanitarian conditions;
Indicators sensitive to change	4. Identification of the indicators likely to be most sensitive to changes in humanitarian conditions; 5. Identification of factors other than sanctions that are likely to have an important influence on those indicators;
Causal pathways	6. Specification of the pathways by which sanctions or other factors would influence humanitarian conditions; 7. Examination of process and outcome information, both quantitative and qualitative, regarding actual changes brought by sanctions through time and the changes in humanitarian conditions that follow;
Relative influence of sanctions	8. Examination of the relative influence of sanctions and other factors in influencing changes in those conditions;
Ongoing monitoring	9. Discussion of weaknesses in information available; 10. Recommendations for ongoing monitoring of sanctions’ impact, and on how to minimize any unintended humanitarian impacts.

5.2 Writing a humanitarian assessment report

Assessment report
template”

Any written assessment of the humanitarian implications should include the sections outlined below. This can be used as a template or document outline for people who are conducting humanitarian assessments under sanctions.

Introduction: Background to current study | Decisions by the sanctioning authority (e.g., UN Security Council) relevant to current assessment | Brief description of timing of assessment mission;

Procedure and methodology: Actual sequential procedure followed by investigators (e.g., literature review, interviews, field mission) | Overview of methodology used along with the strengths and weaknesses of the methodology in the particular context | Main challenges in implementing methodology in the context of the current assessment;

Baseline and prior assessments: Assessment of humanitarian conditions (using indicators across multiple sectors) prior to sanctions | Results of prior assessments | Trends in conditions at baseline;

Assessment of current conditions: Assessment of current conditions (point values and trends) across multiple sectors using humanitarian indicators | Description of data/information sources | Overview of techniques for original data collection (if applicable);

Results of causal modelling: How causal models were constructed to identify causes of humanitarian conditions | Identification of causal pathways;

Humanitarian implications of sanctions: The impact of sanctions on humanitarian conditions (separate from other causes) | Identification of other factors influencing humanitarian conditions (and their relative importance compared to sanctions);

Findings: Summary of main findings, including concise statement of the humanitarian impacts of the sanctions measures on discrete humanitarian conditions.

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