Message from the ICVA Secretariat: 16 March 2007

Conference on Needs of Refugees and IDPs in Iraq and Neighbouring Countries, 17-18 April 2007

E-mail Message to ICVA Members, NGOs invited to UNHCR's conference on Iraqi refugees and IDPs, NGOs Invited to UNHCR’s Standing Committee, and Pre-EXCOM

To: ICVA Members, NGOs invited to UNHCR's conference on Iraqi refugees and IDPs, NGOs Invited to UNHCR’s Standing Committee, and Pre-EXCOM
From: ICVA Secretariat
Date: 16 March 2007
SUBJECT: INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ADDRESSING THE HUMANITARIAN NEEDS OF REFUGEES AND IDPS INSIDE IRAQ AND IN NEIGHBOURING COUNTRIES, 17-18 APRIL 2007, GENEVA

Dear Colleagues,

In response to the increasing needs of displaced persons resulting from conflict in Iraq, UNHCR is hosting an "International Conference on Addressing the Humanitarian Needs of Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons inside Iraq and in Neighbouring Countries" in Geneva on 17-18 April 2007. The conference is being held at ministerial level to raise awareness of humanitarian needs in this situation and seek commitments from the international community to address the problems, including more burden-sharing with States that are hosting Iraqi refugees.

NGOs will have the opportunity to present two consolidated statements to the meeting: one focusing on the humanitarian situation inside Iraq and the other on the humanitarian situation in the region. ICVA and the NGO Coordination Committee in Iraq (NCCI) will facilitate the coordination of these statements.

If you have received this message directly from ICVA, you have been included on the e-mail distribution list that we will be using to facilitate input into the NGO statements. If you do not wish to remain on this list and continue receiving information about the conference and the NGO statements to the conference, please reply to this message (information@icva.ch), indicating "NO" in the subject line.

A more detailed message about the process for consolidating the NGO statements will follow in the coming days, but we are happy to receive any input for the statements you may already have at secretariat@icva.ch. In addition, we will be creating a page on the ICVA website at http://www.icva.ch/doc00002132.html to host any documents or information on the humanitarian needs of Iraqi refugees and IDPs that you would like to make available to the conference participants.

With best regards,
ICVA Secretariat