UNSCR 2664 Humanitarian Carve-Out
The December 9, 2022 resolution that takes humanitarian aid out of the asset freezes of every UN sanctions regime, implemented by OFAC (Office of Foreign Assets Control) on December 20, 2022 and by the EU in 2023.
Security Council resolution 2664, adopted on December 9, 2022 by fourteen votes with India abstaining, creates a cross-cutting humanitarian exemption to the asset freezes of every UN sanctions regime. Its paragraph 1 covers the provision, processing or payment of funds and economic resources, and the provision of goods and services necessary for the delivery of humanitarian assistance or to support activities meeting basic human needs. It decides that these are permitted and do not violate the freeze when carried out by the UN and its agencies, the Red Cross movement, or NGOs (non-governmental organizations) with General Assembly observer status or taking part in humanitarian response plans. Their employees, subsidiaries and implementing partners are covered too. Every aid worker knows the target: the local levy or checkpoint toll that ends up with a listed group. For the 1267 regime, the text was limited to two years; resolution 2761 of December 6, 2024 made it permanent. The United States moved first: on December 20, 2022, OFAC (Office of Foreign Assets Control) issued or amended general licenses across many programs, beyond the UN freezes. The EU followed with Decision (CFSP, Common Foreign and Security Policy) 2023/338 of February 14, 2023 and Regulation (EU) 2023/720 of March 31, 2023, then extended the exemption to the measures it adds on its own to UN regimes. For insurance, the question is practical: covering the vehicles, the warehouse or the liability of an NGO working in an area held by a designated group, and paying a claim part of which runs through a local intermediary. A sanctions exclusion clause does not bite on what an authorization allows, provided the insured falls within the class of beneficiaries, which is checked at underwriting.
Textbook case: an NGO (non-governmental organization) partnering in a UN humanitarian response plan insures its fleet of 12 trucks in a province where a group on the 1267 list controls the roads. One truck is destroyed; agreed value EUR 48,000. A second is repaired for EUR 9,500 by the only garage in the district, whose owner pays a levy to the group. Total claimed: 48,000 + 9,500 = EUR 57,500. The claims handler first checks that the NGO falls under paragraph 1 of resolution 2664 and its EU implementation, then documents the payment to the garage as an expense necessary to the humanitarian activity. The EUR 57,500 is paid, with the verification file kept.
UNSCR 2664, Resolution 2664, humanitarian carve-out, humanitarian exemption, cross-cutting humanitarian exemption, Resolution 2761, OFAC humanitarian general licenses
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