Addressed to:
Kenzo Oshima
Emergency Relief Coordinator and Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian
Affairs
United Nations
Dear Mr. Under-Secretary-General,
On behalf of the undersigned NGOs, please find enclosed a copy of a letter sent on 04 February 2003 to Ambassador Gunter Pleuger, urging him to ask the Secretary-General to provide a humanitarian briefing to the Security Council on the current plight of civilians in Iraq.
We believe that it is essential that the Council give careful consideration of the potential for military action to increase the suffering of Iraq's civilian population, including children. We are concerned that Council members are overlooking the grave humanitarian consequences of military action in Iraq.
We are also urging the governments who are members of the Security Council to support this proposal, transmitting this message to them in their capital cities as well as here in New York.
We hope that, should the German Government request such a briefing, you would be willing to assist the Secretary-General in responding to this request.
Signed,
CARE International Fellowship of Reconciliation
Mennonite Central Committee
Norwegian Refugee Council
Oxfam International
Quaker UN Office - New York
War Child Canada
Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict
Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children World Vision International