NGOs Ask UN Security Council To Consider Iraq’s Children
Humanitarian consequences of war in Iraq
by International NGOs and World Vision
Iraq's people are already enduring a humanitarian crisis. Their extreme vulnerability, particularly among children and
women, must be part of the Security Council's deliberations in the coming days and weeks urges World Vision and other
international non-government organisations.
TO: Ambassador Gunter Pleuger, President of the Security Council
(German Mission to the United Nations)
Dear Ambassador Pleuger,
The public meeting of the Security Council on 27 January made no reference to the humanitarian vulnerability of millions
of Iraqi civilians. As international non-governmental organisations responding globally to human need, some of us
particularly focused on the plight of children, we are deeply concerned that the Council is consistently overlooking the
grave humanitarian consequences of potential military intervention on civilians. Internal UN and NGO planning scenarios
demonstrate conclusively that the children of Iraq in particular are much more vulnerable to war today than they were in
1991.
In Resolution 1460 of 2003, the Council recently requested "...the Secretary-General to ensure that in all his reports
to the Security Council on country-specific situations, the protection of children in armed conflict is included as a
specific aspect of the report" and expressed its "commitment to address the widespread impact of armed conflict on
children." Today, the almost total dependence of Iraqi civilians on government food rations makes them extremely
vulnerable to military action.
On 6 November 2002, the Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict sent a letter to all members of the Security Council
urging them to consider the urgent humanitarian situation of children in Iraq. The Secretary-General's 26 November 2002
report to the Council (S/2002/1300) on civilian protection, the 10 December 2002 statement of the
Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs on protection, and the Council's aide-memoire of 15 March 2002
(S/PRST/2002/6), all substantiate the commitment of member states and the UN Secretariat to protect civilians in armed
conflict.
Iraq's people are already enduring a humanitarian crisis. Their extreme vulnerability, particularly among children and
women, must be part of the Council's deliberations in the coming days and weeks. The undersigned organisations therefore
urge the president of the Security Council to request from the Secretary-General a humanitarian briefing on the current
and potential situation of children and other civilians in Iraq, if possible, before 14 February.
Signed,
CARE International
Fellowship of Reconciliation
Mennonite Central Committee
Norwegian Refugee Council
Oxfam International
Quaker UN Office – New York
Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict
Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children
World Vision International
Cc: Secretary-General Kofi Annan, Under-Secretary-General Olara Otunnu, Under-Secretary-General Oshima,
Under-Secretary-General Prendergast
Since the letter was originally submitted on 04 February, the International Save the Children Alliance, Refugees
International, War Child Canada, Jesuit Refugee Services, Quaker UN Office (Geneva), ActionAid, OFADEC, Swedish
Organisation for Individual Relief, Caritas Internationalis, the International Catholic Migration Commission, Christian
Children's Fund, and the Presbyterian Church of the USA have added their signatures.