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<title>UN SECURITY COUNCIL ESTABLISHES SANCTIONS WORKING GROUP; CANADIAN-SPONSORED SANCTIONS STUDY UNVEILED</title>
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<p><font face="Arial" size="+1"></font><font face="Arial" size="+1"><strong>April 17, 2000 <em>(4:20 p.m. EDT)</em> No. 78</strong></font></p>
<p align="CENTER"><font face="Arial" size="+1"><strong>UN SECURITY COUNCIL ESTABLISHES SANCTIONS WORKING
GROUP; CANADIAN-SPONSORED SANCTIONS STUDY UNVEILED</strong></font></p>
<p><font face="Arial"></font><font face="Arial">Foreign Affairs Minister Lloyd Axworthy, as President of the UN Security Council, today
announced the creation of a Security Council working group on sanctions policy, with a
mandate to develop recommendations on how to improve the effectiveness of UN
sanctions. The announcement followed the first-ever open discussion of the Security
Council on the effectiveness of sanctions. The working group, which has a mandate to
explore ways of targeting sanctions and avoiding negative humanitarian impacts, will
report its findings to the Security Council in November.</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial">"I welcome the establishment of the Council working group on sanctions policy. It will
have Canada's full support and active participation in seeking ways to improve the
design of sanctions and guide future practice," said Mr. Axworthy, who chaired the
Council meeting. "Today's meeting was a concrete signal of the Council's determination
to work towards more effective and humane sanctions."</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial">A Canadian-sponsored study on sanctions by the International Peace Academy (IPA),
<em>The Sanctions Decade</em>, was also launched today by Secretary-General Kofi Annan and
Minister Axworthy. The study recommends concrete ways for making sanctions
"smarter," more humane, and more capable of realizing their potential as a tool for
multilateral diplomacy. </font></p>
<p><font face="Arial">Minister Axworthy also announced Canadian initiatives in response to the IPA report.
Canada will contribute $100 000 to commission a follow-up report to <em>The Sanctions
Decade</em>, which will serve as a report card on reforms undertaken by the Security
Council to make sanctions more humane and effective. Canada will also provide a
further $100 000 to commission a strategic management study on ways of upgrading
the UN Secretariat's capacity for administering sanctions. Finally, Canada announced it
will convene a conference of experts to begin the development of an explicit legal
regime to govern the use of sanctions, including standardized policy guidelines and
operational principles. </font></p>
<p><font face="Arial">Funding for these initiatives was provided for in the February 2000 federal budget and is
therefore built into the existing fiscal framework.</font></p>
<p align="CENTER"><font face="Arial">- 30 -</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial">For further information, media representative may contact :</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial">Debora Brown</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial">Office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial">(613) 995-1851</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial">Media Relations Office</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial">Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial">(613) 995-1874</font></p>
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