Slashdot Mirror
UN Food Programme Releases Game
bobbis.u writes "The UN World Food Programme has launched a game (for Windows and Mac) to educate people about their work. Although aimed for children, I'm sure some Slashdotters will enjoy it. It includes six different missions and is a hefty download."
The Oil For Food Program succeeded in its humanitarian mission.
"International aid efforts and the U.N. oil-for-food program helped reduce the ruinous impact of sanctions, and the rate of acute malnutrition among the youngest Iraqis gradually dropped from a peak of 11 percent in 1996 to 4 percent in 2002."- The Washington Post, November 21
That's not the only aspect of the OFFP "scandal" that has been twisted.
With the risk of ruining the UN-bashing with a little US-bashing - the US can't even feed the dogs down there.
Yes, one has to wonder why the members of the Security Council, and the US and the UK specifically, designed a program that handed money over to Saddam. The UN bureacracy that is wrongly blamed actually flagged many contracts under the program for potential overpricing, but the US and the UK approved most of them.
This might be the reason why Saddam scammed most of his money from smuggling, which the UN itself had no jurisdiction over or means to stop. That again falls on its member states, and in this case the US and the UK.
Also, the $21 billion figure reoported by media and quoted by politicians is wrong. Over $13 billion of that money has been shown to come from oil smuggling, and can't be said to be a failiure of the program.
The sex abuse scandal in west Africa is NOT misinformation. Nor is the oil-for-food scandal. Yes the purpose of the U.N. is laudable, but in practice it has left something to be desired (watch Hotel Rwanda). You could probably say the same thing of U.S. foriegn policy. In regards to sopmoric comments, as long as the U.N. wants to be a player on the global stage they will be subject to the world's criticisms, jests, and sopmoric comments.