Oil-for-Food Programme

E61447

The Oil-for-Food Programme was a United Nations initiative that allowed Iraq to sell limited amounts of oil in order to purchase humanitarian goods while remaining under international sanctions.


Statements (50)
Predicate Object
instanceOf United Nations programme
humanitarian aid programme
sanctions relief mechanism
administeredBy UN Office of the Iraq Programme
United Nations
United Nations Secretariat
allowedActivity import of food
import of humanitarian supplies
import of medicine
limited Iraqi oil exports
appliesTo Iraq
authorizedBy United Nations Security Council
beneficiaryGroup Iraqi civilian population
condition Iraq remained under international economic sanctions
countrySubjectToSanctions Iraq
createdBy United Nations Security Council Resolution 986
criticizedFor benefiting Iraqi regime officials
corruption and mismanagement
smuggling and kickback schemes
currencyOfSales United States dollar
endDate 2003-11-21
endedAfter 2003 invasion of Iraq
fundingSource proceeds from Iraqi oil exports
headquarters New York City
implementedInPhases yes
legalBasis United Nations Security Council Resolution 986
location Iraq
monitoredBy UN Office of the Iraq Programme
UN sanctions committee on Iraq
United Nations Security Council
officialName Oil-for-Food Programme
oversightMechanism UN escrow account for oil revenues
phaseCount 13 phases
purpose to alleviate the humanitarian impact of sanctions on Iraqi civilians
to allow Iraq to sell oil to purchase humanitarian goods
to ensure that oil revenues were used for approved civilian needs
relatedTo Gulf War
Iraq disarmament crisis
United Nations sanctions against Iraq
restrictedUseOfFunds military purposes prohibited
weapons purchases prohibited
shortName OFFP
startDate 1996-12-10
subjectOf United Nations internal investigations
allegations of corruption
independent inquiry led by Paul Volcker
successor Development Fund for Iraq
timePeriod 1990s
early 2000s
post-Gulf War era


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