URGENCY RESOLUTION ADOPTED BY THE ELDR CONGRESS
AMSTERDAM 2003

The ELDR Congress notes with concern

1. The deteriorating security situation and continuing loss of life in Iraq.
2. The Coalition’s failure to restore regular water and electricity supplies in Iraq.
3. The attacks against neutral humanitarian organisations and staff, and the withdrawal of humanitarian agency staff from Iraq.

Congress believes:

• That the security and stability of Iraq is an issue of global concern and merits the full attention of the international community; and that the Iraqi people must play a central role in the rebuilding of their country, and that international institutions rather than non-Iraqi interests should take the lead in the rebuilding project.

• That Resolution 1511 adopted by the UN, while welcome, was an opportunity missed, in failing to give the UN an overarching role in security and reconstruction, and in failing to answer concerns about the timetable for a transfer of power, the mandate of the Coalition, or the role of the UN.

Congress therefore calls for all Governments to:

1. Ensure the UN has a vital and overarching role in the political and economic reconstruction of Iraq.

2. Work towards holding elections for a new Iraqi government as soon as practicable.

3. Commit to supporting the people of Iraq in the rebuilding of their country for as long as their government request it, through the provision of peacekeeping troops under unified command and reporting to the Security Council.