The Informal Working Group of the Security Council on General United Nations Security Council Sanctions Issueswas established in July 2024 pursuant to paragraph 5 of resolution 2744 (2024) to examine general issues on the subject of United Nations Security Council sanctions, with a view to improving the effectiveness of sanctions imposed by the United Nations.

Work and Mandate of the Working Group

The Working Group comprises all 15 members of the Security Council and makes its decisions by consensus. The current Co-Chairs of the Working Group, for the period ending 31 December 2025, are His Excellency Mr. Ioannis Stamatekos (Greece) and His Excellency Mr. Asim Iftikhar Ahmad (Pakistan).

The Working Group is mandated to examine, inter alia, the following issues:

(a) The Focal Point mechanism, including consultations with the Secretary-General regarding the appointment thereof, review of its biannual reports, and dialogue with the Focal Point and other relevant parties with a view to monitoring and improving the mechanism’s operations;

(b) Good practices of working methods of sanctions Committees and inter-Committee coordination as well as coordination between sanctions Committees and their panel/group/team of experts within the United Nations system and cooperation with, inter alia, Member States of the United Nations and regional and other international organizations, and general criteria regarding the appointment and continuation of well-qualified experts;

(c) Best practices on the design, implementation, and assessment of sanctions, including good practices on combining sanctions with other UN Security Council responses to threats to international peace and security, and improving monitoring arrangements to enhance the efficacy and effectiveness of sanctions;

(d) Assessing and identifying options for strengthening Member States’ capacity to address gaps in connection with implementing UN Security Council sanctions, as well as reviewing generally the implementation of UN Security Council sanctions;

(e) General practices of usage and implementation of exemption measures and sustaining efforts to mitigate unintended humanitarian consequences.