Its mandate was to process claims and pay compensation for losses and damage suffered as a direct result of Iraq's 1990–1991 invasion and occupation of Kuwait which started the Gulf War.
[2] The UNCC adopted a policy of paying individuals first, with the result that the remaining sum is owed entirely to a government entity, specifically the state oil company of Kuwait.
In December 2021, Iraq's central bank announced that it had paid off its entire debt of $52 billion in war reparations to Kuwait.
From the beginning of its operation, the UNCC system has been criticized for the lack of representation allowed to Iraq, the defendant government, in the process.
[8] Kuwait and Saudi Arabia suffered gross environmental damage as a result of the Iraqi occupation, as the retreating Iraqi forces blew up oil wells and released millions of barrels (estimated as high as 11 million barrels) of crude oil into the Persian Gulf.
[9] In contrast, the Saudi study (funded with $109 million from the Oil-for-Food Programme via the UNCC) found damage mostly to the coastline.
An extensive and very detailed study of the shoreline was conducted at 250-meter intervals for the entire affected length, from the high-water mark to low water, to determine the extent of the contamination and its effect on biota.