UN Foundation President Timothy E. Wirth
Remarks on the Independent Inquiry Committee’s
Final Oil-for-Food Report
Washington—"Today
marks a turning point from focusing on
the problems of the Oil-for-Food Program
(OFFP) to moving ahead with UN reform.
The exhaustive Independent Inquiry Committee’s
(IIC) report tells us both what went right
and wrong with the program. Clearly, the
UN made mistakes in the operation of the
OFFP. The organization will learn from
these lessons and by implementing recommendations
offered by the IIC, as it has already
begun to do, help ensure that these problems
are not repeated in the future.
“At the same time, the report includes
important contextual points on the OFFP.
It validates the humanitarian accomplishments
of the OFFP, points out structural issues
with the UN Security Council’s oversight
of the program, and finds that the main
source of illicit revenue for the Hussein
regime was illegal oil smuggling, over
which the UN had no oversight responsibilities.
“The UN fulfilled its commitment
to help this inquiry by cooperating fully
with the investigation, providing unrestricted
access to all relevant UN records and
information and personnel. Moreover, the
Secretary-General kept his word by dismissing
and lifting the immunity from those officials
found to have acted improperly.
“The focus should now be on completing
the necessary reforms. The UN already
is taking action on important reforms
and this momentum must be continued. The
upcoming World Summit and the reform agenda
proposed by Secretary-General Annan present
important opportunities for every member
nation to ensure a UN prepared to confront
the challenges ahead.
“I also want to thank Paul Volcker
for all of his good work on behalf of
the UN. This has been a long and hard
year; but he has done a real service to
the institution, and we thank him for
that. So many support and believe in the
UN and he has helped to make it stronger
and more effective.”
###
The UN Foundation was created
in 1998 with businessman and philanthropist
Ted Turner’s historic $1 billion
gift to support United Nations’
causes. The UN Foundation promotes a more
peaceful, prosperous, and just world through
the support of the UN. Through its grant
making and by building new and innovative
public-private partnerships, the UN Foundation
acts to meet the most pressing health,
humanitarian, socioeconomic, and environmental
challenges of the 21st century. (www.unfoundation.org)
