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Impact of the Oil-for-Food Program on the Iraqi People Report Summary

In addition to the Independent Inquiry Committee’s (IIC) final report on the United Nations’ Oil-for-Food Program’s management, the Committee released a report focusing on the impact of the Oil-for-Food Program on the Iraqi people. A Working Group was assembled to specifically address the question of whether or not the OFFP achieved its stated aim: to avert a humanitarian crisis due to sanctions in Iraq. Focusing on six areas of achievement: hunger, poverty, nutrition, healthy, mortality, and infrastructural development, the Group assessed the overall cost effectiveness of the OFFP.

THE MOUNTING CRISIS

Before the first Gulf War, Iraq’s social and economic indicators were average to above-average for the region. After the Gulf War, the situation became much more serious. The general health of the Iraqi people deteriorated rapidly from 1991 onwards. Nutrition levels plummeted, while infectious diseases plagued the population.

In addition to this collapse in the general well-being of the Iraqi population, the economic results were also devastating: the value of the Iraqi Dinar collapsed by 2500%, employment fell from 90% to scarcely more than 50%, and industrial production fell by half.

Certain factors had made Iraq particularly susceptible to oil trade sanctions. Oil trade made up more than 60% of their GDP. For years they had imported over two-thirds of their food supply, which were normally financed from oil export revenues; any restrictions on oil trade would leave the population of the country devastated.

The UN Development Program office summed up the collapse as “a shift from relative affluence to massive poverty.”


THE SOLUTION: OIL-FOR-FOOD

The UN Security Council acknowledged this mounting problem, and with Security Council Resolution 986 passed in 1995, stated that it was “concerned by the serious nutritional and health situation…and convinced of the need as a temporary measure to provide for the humanitarian needs of the Iraqi people.” Some twenty different types of goods were sponsored by the OFFP, with food being the largest in financial terms. Between 1997 and 2003, $39 Billion was made available for humanitarian supplies. This was about 90 cents per person per day, and the measurable effects were felt in a number of different arenas:

Nutrition:
Oil-for-Food was responsible for delivering foodstuffs to 60-70% of the Iraqi population. The OFFP increased the average daily available caloric intake from 1800 kcal in 1995 to 2800 kcal in 2000.

The OFFP significantly addressed the problem of malnutrition in young children. Instances of low birth weight babies dropped from 20% in 1995 to 12% in 2000.

The OFFP was also responsible for lowering the prevalence of stunted growth in children by nearly one half.

Agriculture:
The OFFP reversed a downward trend in domestic agricultural yields even in the face of a significant drought in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s.

Throughout the country, the OFFP contributed to the rehabilitation and construction of grain silos, which resulted in reduced storage and handling losses.

In the Center/South of Iraq, OFFP played a large role in the doubling of poultry meat and egg production between 1995 and 2000.

Infrastructure:
The OFFP helped restore power capacity in Iraq from 4000 MW to 5200 MW countrywide; 2002 was the first time that the summer peak did not bring planned power cuts.

Access to Health Care:
In the southern and central regions of Iraq, major surgeries increased by 40% and laboratory investigations increased by 25% between 1997 and 2003.

In 1996, the Iraqi Ministry of Health spent US$17 per person on medical supplies and drugs. Due to the OFFP, this level rose to $US65 in 2000.

The OFFP helped eliminate a surfacing cholera epidemic.