Reforming the Sanctions on Syria workshop in collaboration with the Syrian Forum 

On February 19th and 20th, Madaniya and the Syrian Forum organized a workshop at Chatham House in London on the Syria Sanctions Policy Program. The two-day workshop brought together experts in sanctions, including Syrian and international sanctions experts, representatives from the United Nations, and sanctioning authorities from the EU, UK, and the US. This first workshop of the Syria Sanctions Policy Program (SSPP) explored practical ways to improve the efficacy of sanctions, making them more impactful on the Assad regime while minimizing their effects on innocent civilians. 

The first day of the workshop delved into topics pertinent to the sanctions policies on Syria, such as limiting the impact on civilians, bank de-risking and over-compliance, enhancing the impact on human rights violators, and assessing the effect of sanctions on the political process in Syria. The second day focused on exploring proposals to address the topics discussed on the first day.