An agreement on establishing the United Nations Guards Contingent in Iraq (UNGCI) was concluded in May 1991, and soon thereafter the first "guards" were on their way to Iraq to share in the security of engaged organizations. During the summer of 1991, the UNGCI mission reached a level of 500 personnel that were delegated from the
U.N. H.Q. in
New York City, U.N.
Geneva, U.N.
Vienna, and the U.N.
Kenya. National contingents of about 50 personnel originated from the following countries:
Austria,
Bangladesh,
Czechoslovakia,
Denmark,
Fiji,
Ghana,
Greece,
Nepal, the
Philippines,
Poland,
Netherlands, and
Thailand. After a short training period in
Baghdad, the guards moved initially to
Erbil and
Dohuk (in the northern part of Iraq) and were assigned to serve mostly in Kurdistan under three Sectors (Dohuk,
Erbil,
Sulaimaniyah), though some service was performed in the south of the country, in the area of
Basra city. From 1996, the mission continued under the auspices of the "
Oil for Food" program. The UNGCI mission was terminated in 2003. ==See also==