Editing Oil-for-Food Programme (section)

=== Misapplication of funding ===
According to information from [[Aqila al-Hashimi]], who was senior bureaucrat with the Oil-for-Food Programme in Iraq, of the programme's total of $60 billion, "roughly 65% was actually applied to aid".<ref>[[Samantha Nutt]]. M.D. "Damned Nations: Greed, Guns, Arms and Aid". McLelland & Stewart Ltd. Toronto. Canada, 2011. {{ISBN|978-0-7710-5145-6}}. Page 147</ref> Over 193 so-called electrical consultants each received $15,000 per month while the electricity only worked a few hours at a time.<ref>Samantha Nutt, MD. ''Damned Nations: Greed, Guns, Arms and Aid''. McLelland & Stewart Ltd. Toronto. Canada, 2011. {{ISBN|978-0-7710-5145-6}}. p. 148</ref>

[[Benon Sevan]] of [[Cyprus]], who headed the programme, defended it, claiming that it had only a 2.2% administrative cost and that it was subject to more than 100 internal and external [[audit]]s. He blamed [[Security Council]] restrictions for making the situation difficult and said that 90 percent of Iraq's population relied on the programme for its monthly food basket. Sevan stonewalled efforts to review and investigate the programme.<ref>{{cite news| url-status=dead|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A48225-2004Nov13?language=printer|title=Oil-for-Food Official May Have Blocked Inquiries  |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120918040608/http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A48225-2004Nov13?language=printer |archive-date=2012-09-18 | newspaper=The Washington Post | access-date=2010-05-20 | first=Colum | last=Lynch}}</ref> He ordered his staff to enforce a policy that complaints about illegal payoffs should be formally filed with the [[whistleblower]]'s country, making them public and allowing Iraq to bar any whistleblowers. In 2000, [[Dileep Nair]], the UN corruption watchdog, wanted to determine the programme's level of vulnerability. Sevan and UN Deputy Secretary-General [[Louise Frechette]], rejected any such investigation, claiming that it would be too expensive to be worthwhile. UN Chef de Cabinet [[Iqbal Riza]] ordered the shredding of years' worth of documents in his office concerning the programme. He said that they were from a working file that contained copies of documents received by his office, and were purged due to lack of space, and also that the originals were held elsewhere.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,176362,00.html | publisher=Fox News | title=New U.N. Scheme: Alliance of Civilizations | date=22 November 2005 | access-date=18 April 2007 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070221194057/http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,176362,00.html | archive-date=21 February 2007 | url-status=dead }}</ref>

In response to these criticisms, and to evidence acquired after the [[2003 invasion of Iraq]], accusations were made that skimmed profits were being used to buy influence at the UN and with [[Kofi Annan]] himself. An investigation cleared Annan of any personal wrongdoing.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.iic-offp.org/documents/IIC%20Final%20Report%2027Oct2005.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130823070841/http://www.iic-offp.org/documents/IIC%20Final%20Report%2027Oct2005.pdf |title=Manipulation Of The Oil-For-Food Programme By The Iraqi Regime |archive-date=2013-08-23 |date=2013-08-23 |access-date=2019-07-17}}</ref>