In 1995, the UN founded the Oil for Food programme, in order to allow Saddam Hussein's Iraq to sell oil on the world market in exchange for food, medicine and only humanitarian supplies for Iraq's civilian population. It was an attempt introduced by Bill Clinton's office to counter the arguments that ordinary Iraqis were suffering from the economic sanctions placed on Saddam's Iraq following the Gulf War. The programme was dissolved in 2003. 

Upon the termination of the programme, it was revealed that the eight years of its application were a manifesto of corruption. In 2005, an interim report revealed that much of the food bought by the programme was unfit for human consumption and that officials running the programme had accepted and offered bribes for personal financial gains from the oil sales. 

Our theme Oil for Blood? is a reflection on the corruption and actual achievements of not only the Oil for Food programme, but also of the wars and military interventions around the world over the past decade, where natural resources are present in the background more often than not. It is almost as though the question Oil for Blood? has a justified 'YES' as the answer, and we believe that this is a vice of our international conscience that needs to be remedied if we are ever to progress as truly equal and united nations. 

We hope that the question Oil for Blood? will encourage students to look at all aspects of many of the conflicts troubling our world today, and to look for answers in the economic and social transactions that are often cast into the shadow by their military counterparts.