New York: The United Nations Security Council believes the Iraqi government must take greater responsibility for the management of its own resources, the head of the UN body has said.
The UN Controller Jun Yamazaki briefed the UN Security Council yesterday on the fund administering proceeds from export sales of petroleum from Iraq, following which the 15-memberd body issued a statement.
Also known as the Development Fund for Iraq, it was established in 2003, the same year the Security Council phased out the oil-for-food programme, under which a sanctions-bound Iraq was allowed to use monitored oil sales revenue for humanitarian purchases.
"Council members expressed some concern about the need for further steps to improve the internal controls" in the Fund, Deputy Permanent Representative Philip John Parham of the United Kingdom, which holds the Council’s rotating presidency this month, told reporters following the consultations.
Security Council also discussed the International Advisory and Monitoring Board (IAMB), an independent body set up by the Council.
In a report to the Council made public on Wednesday, the Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said that the IAMB has found that the Committee of Financial Experts, created by Iraq’s Council of Ministers in 2006, is ready to assume oversight responsibilities of the Fund.
"It will be important to ensure that a proper succession mechanism and process be considered," Ban said. From its establishment in 2003 till the end of 2008, the Fund has received nearly USD 180 billion from oil exports, the balance of the oil-for-food funds held under escrow by the UN and proceeds from frozen assets, according to the report.
Bureau Report
First Published: Friday, August 28, 2009, 10:14