This is the biggest scandal of centuries. U.N. agencies working under the oil-for-food program squandered millions of dollars through suspect overpayment to contractors, mismanagement of purchasing and assets, and fraud by its employees.
UN-Habitat was one of nine U.N. agencies that helped to implement humanitarian aid in Iraq under the $60 billion oil-for-food program that was created as a humanitarian exemption to sanctions imposed on Iraq after the 1990 invasion of Kuwait, which led to the 1991 Gulf War. Beginning in 1996, it allowed Saddam Husseins government to sell oil and use the proceeds to buy food, medicine and other items.
Despite previous statements to the contrary, the son of U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan is now said to admit he did indeed play a role in the scandalized oil-for-food program with Iraq, and thats prompting a call for his testimony before the U.S. Congress.