By KUNA
Geneva : The Governing Council of the United Nations Compensation Commission (UNCC) will hold its sixty-fifth session Wednesday and Thursday to discuss various issues relating to the work of the Compensation Commission including reports of the Secretary on the activities of the secretariat since the last session in October 2007.
The meetings will also discuss the Follow-up Program for Environmental Awards established by the council to monitor the technical and financial aspects of the environmental remediation projects, and follow up on the distribution by governments and international organizations of payments to successful claimants, the transparency of the distribution process, and the return of undistributed funds.
The UNCC is a subsidiary organ of the United Nations Security Council.
It was established in accordance with Security Council resolutions 687 (1991) and 692 (1991) to process claims and pay compensation for direct losses and damage suffered by individuals, corporations, governments, and international organizations as a direct result of Iraq’s unlawful invasion and occupation of Kuwait on August 2, 1990 to March 2, 1991.
The Compensation Commission received approximately 2.7 million claims.
The total asserted value of these claims (amount sought by the claimants) amounts to approximately USD 352.5 billion.
Ninety-seven governments filed claims on behalf of their nationals, corporations, and themselves, as well as thirteen offices of three international organizations, which filed claims on behalf of individuals not in a position to submit their claims through a government.
To date, the UNCC has made available to governments and international organizations approximately USD 23.4 billion for distribution to successful claimants in all categories.
Funds to pay compensation are drawn from the United Nations Compensation Fund, which receives a percentage of the proceeds generated by the export sales of Iraqi petroleum and petroleum products.
This percentage was originally set at 30 per cent by the Security Council under its resolution 705 (1991), and was maintained in Security Council resolution 986 (1995) as well as in a number of subsequent resolutions.