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Water and sanitation

· Helfen statt Blockieren editorial team

There are hardly any sanctions rules specific to water. It is still affected because treatment, pumps and pipes need power, spare parts and sometimes chemicals considered dual-use.

What is blocked

  • Cuba: For spare parts with more than 10 percent US content even a European supplier needs a US licence1.
  • North Korea: UN sanctions cover 59 broad categories of goods. Anyone wishing to deliver such goods for an aid project needs an exemption from the sanctions committee2.

What is expressly allowed

  • UN: Resolution 2664 of 9 December 2022 makes clear that funds and services for humanitarian aid and basic human needs are not covered by UN asset freezes. 14 states voted in favour, India abstained3.
  • EU: With Regulation 2023/331 of 14 February 2023 the EU took this exemption into its regimes that implement UN lists4.

What still does not arrive

  • Cuba: According to information given to the Special Rapporteur, some regions receive water only every few days up to every 30 days5.
  • Worldwide: aid groups report that delayed transfers delay or stop projects; in 2015 a charity could not pay for fuel for a hospital in Syria because of long transfer delays6.

Documented examples

  • North KoreaIn 2018 exemptions took 99 days on average and in the worst case over five months2.
  • CubaThe Special Rapporteur lists both side by side: blackouts of up to 18 hours a day and water in some regions only every few days up to every 30 days, according to information presented to her5.

Counterpoints: why states impose sanctions

  • North Korea: The UN justifies the lists of goods with the nuclear and missile programme. The 38 North analysis attributes the larger share of avoidable harm to funding shortfalls, not to sanctions alone2.
  • Cuba: The US government justifies its measures with the policies of the Cuban government. Executive Order 14380 of 29 January 2026 cites support for hostile states and groups and the human rights record7.

Figures marked “according to information given to” are not the cited body’s own measurements but information presented to it.

This page is information, not legal advice. It reports what authorities, courts, governments and organisations decide and say; the views of the side imposing measures and of the side affected stand side by side. “Helfen statt Blockieren” is non-partisan. Please report errors to info@aciel-martinez-poll.com.

Sources

  1. Kelley Drye, “BIS tightens Cuba restrictions, lowers de minimis threshold to 10 percent (Federal Register Doc. 2019-22876)”, 21 Oct 2019. https://www.kelleydrye.com/viewpoints/blogs/trade-and-manufacturing-monitor/bis-tightens-cuba-restrictions-lowers-de-minimis-threshold-to-10-percent
  2. 38 North, “The Human Costs of UN Sanctions and Funding Shortfalls for Humanitarian Aid in North Korea”, 22 Aug 2019. https://www.38north.org/2019/08/parkkimjong082219/
  3. UN Security Council, press release SC/15134 (9214. meeting), Report on the adoption of Resolution 2664 (2022), 9 Dec 2022. https://press.un.org/en/node/311942
  4. Council of the EU, Regulation (EU) 2023/331 of 14.2.2023 amending certain regulations concerning restrictive measures in order to insert provisions on a humanitarian exemption, OJ L 47 of 15.2.2023, S. 1, 14 Feb 2023. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2023/331/oj
  5. OHCHR, Special Rapporteur Alena Douhan, Preliminary findings of the visit to Cuba, end of mission statement, 11 to 21 November 2025, 21 Nov 2025. Many figures there are marked “reportedly”, i.e. based on information presented to her. https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2133521/20251121-eom-stm-cuba-sr-negative-impact-unilateral-en.pdf
  6. Devex (Sophie Edwards), on the survey by Charity & Security Network, “De-risking is causing significant banking problems for two-thirds of US nonprofits”, 14 Feb 2017. https://www.devex.com/news/derisking-is-causing-significant-banking-problems-for-two-thirds-of-us-nonprofits-89631
  7. White House, Federal Register 91 FR 5085, “Executive Order 14380: Addressing Threats to the United States by the Government of Cuba (unterzeichnet 29.1.2026)”, 3 Feb 2026. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2026-02-03/html/2026-02250.htm

All online sources accessed on 3 November 2026.

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