Leading international children's charity Save the Children today called upon the United Nations Security Council to uphold humanitarian and human rights principles in its actions relating to Iraq. In a joint agencies open letter the charity indicated its concern at the lack of commitment within the Council to address the humanitarian situation in Iraq. This is to be discussed by the Council in New York on Friday 24 March. Save the Children's director general Mike Aaronson explains:
"Save the Children welcomes the
forthcoming debate in the Security Council on the humanitarian situation
in Iraq but is gravely concerned that the humanitarian improvements specified
in the December resolution on Iraq have yet to be fully implemented. Iraq's
children can not afford to wait. There are $1.77 billion worth of contracts
on hold which are vital for urgent water and sanitation work.
"Save the Children believes that there is a need for longer-term development
principles in Iraq. Dependency on handouts and the continued isolation
and alienation of young Iraqis is not only undermining their rights but
perpetuating the next generation's hostility towards the international
community. Within the Security Council however there is a continued refusal
to address the core problems in the design of the sanctions regime. There
is an urgent need for cash and investment in infrastructure which the UN
must address. Real change for Iraq's children will only come about when
they are better educated, fed, housed and protected from violence and abuse.
Only this long-term focus will strengthen Iraqi civil society."
Save the Children has been active in Iraq since 1991, but now works only in Northern Iraq focusing on long term reconstruction, promoting alternatives to institutionalised care, juvenile justice and human resource development in local authorities and local NGOs.