Dec. 17, 2003 The IRC joined 15
other aid and advocacy organizations in a Dec. 16 letter to U.S. Deputy
Secretary of State Richard Armitage, calling for urgent help in addressing
Liberia's humanitarian and security needs.
The letter said most of the country
is out of reach to humanitarian assistance because of insecurity, while
only 5,000 of a planned force of 15,000 peacekeepers have been deployed.
The aid groups call for Armitage to press for the release of funds for Liberia, recently appropriated by the U.S. Congress, and the rapid deployment of peacekeepers by countries that have pledged troops.
Click (pdf* format - 234 KB) for the full text of the letter.