Stories written by Thalif Deen
Thalif Deen, Senior Editor & Director, UN Bureau, Inter Press Service (IPS) news agency has been covering the United Nations since the late 1970s. Beginning with the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, he has covered virtually every major U.N. conference: on population, human rights, the environment, sustainable development, food security, humanitarian aid, arms control and nuclear disarmament.   As the former UN Bureau Chief for IPS, he was cited twice for excellence in U.N. reporting at the annual awards presentation of the U.N. Correspondents' Association (UNCA). In November 2012, he was on the IPS team which won the prestigious gold medal for reporting on the global environment-- and in 2013, he shared the gold, this time with the UN Bureau Chief of Reuters news agency, for his reporting on the humanitarian and development work of the United Nations.   A former information officer at the U.N. Secretariat, he served twice as a member of the Sri Lanka delegation to the UN General Assembly sessions. His track record includes a stint as deputy news editor of the Sri Lanka Daily News and senior editorial writer on the Hong Kong Standard. As military analyst, he was also Director, Foreign Military Markets at Defense Marketing Services; Senior Defense Analyst at Forecast International; and military editor Middle East/Africa at Jane’s Information Group. He was a longstanding columnist for the Sri Lanka Sunday Times, U.N. correspondent for Asiaweek, Hong Kong and Jane's Defence Weekly, London. A Fulbright scholar with a Master’s Degree (MSc) in Journalism from Columbia University, New York, he is co-author of the 1981 book on “How to Survive a Nuclear Disaster” and author of the 2021 book on the United Nations titled “No Comment – and Don’t Quote me on That”— and subtitled ‘from the Sublime to the Hilarious’, both of which are available on Amazon

ECONOMY: Developing Nations Take a Big Hit, Says U.N.

By Thalif Deen
The developing economies of Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, and Latin America, have suffered a setback in the past year as severe as that dealt by the 'Asian financial crisis' of the late 1990s, the United Nations said Wednesday.

ECONOMY: Global Slowdown Kills Latin American Prospects – U.N.

By Thalif Deen
A sluggish world economy and the continued threat of recession in the United States have killed all hopes of a new growth cycle in Latin America and the Caribbean, a U.N. survey has revealed.

POLITICS: U.N. Rejects Charges of Neglect in Angolan Crisis

By Thalif Deen
The United Nations rejected Wednesday charges it was turning a blind eye to a grave humanitarian crisis in Angola that has already claimed thousands of lives in the onetime war-ravaged country.

DEVELOPMENT: U.N. Urged to Drop Africa Plan, Support Region’s Effort

By Thalif Deen
A 10-year United Nations development plan for Africa has failed and should be buried in favour of an initiative championed by the continent's governments, an eminent persons' panel urged Tuesday.

ENVIRONMENT: U.N. Welcomes Asian Forest Fire Prevention Pact

By Thalif Deen
The United Nations praised Monday a legal agreement among 10 Southeast Asian nations to prevent forest fires. Wildfires have plagued the region since 1997 and caused billions of dollars in economic and environmental damage.

RIGHTS: U.N. Official Seeks Scrutiny of Anti-Terrorism Measures

By Thalif Deen
The highest ranking U.N. human rights official is calling for an independent expert or a new international body to monitor the impact of anti-terrorism measures on human rights worldwide.

DEVELOPMENT: U.N. Pleads for Humanitarian Funds, Cites Donor Bias

By Thalif Deen
The United Nations lacks nearly two-thirds of the money it needs for humanitarian relief efforts in countries including Angola, Burundi, Guinea, North Korea, and Sudan.

RIGHTS: 50 Million Children Lack Birth Certificates, Says UNICEF

By Thalif Deen
More than 50 million children worldwide are being denied the right to an official identity, leaving them vulnerable to child traffickers and child abusers, the U.N. Children's Fund (UNICEF) said Tuesday.

ECONOMY: Palestinian Struggle Strikes at Israel’s Finances

By Thalif Deen
The 18-month-old military confrontation in the West Bank and Gaza has not only devastated the fragile Palestinian economy but also sparked an economic crisis in Israel, according to Middle East analysts and U.N. agencies.

ECONOMY: Africa Grew Fastest in Developing World in 2001-Study

By Thalif Deen
Africa's economic growth rate was the fastest in the developing world last year, the United Nations said in a report released Wednesday.

RIGHTS: Afghanistan Setting Up Human Rights Commission

By Thalif Deen
Afghanistan has decided to set up its first independent National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) to probe past and present abuses in the war-ravaged country.

POLITICS: Tribal Conflicts Threaten Afghan Democracy, U.N. Warns

By Thalif Deen
T tribal conflicts in Afghanistan threaten to derail the creation of a multi-ethnic, democratically-elected government in that war-ravaged country, a senior U.N. official warned Thursday.

POLITICS-U.N.: Arms Embargo Against Taliban Deemed Ineffective

By Thalif Deen
The eight-month-old United Nations arms embargo against the Afghanistan's former Taliban rulers and the al Qaeda network has proved ineffective, a U.N. monitoring group said Wednesday.

DEVELOPMENT: East Timor Among World’s Poorest States, Says U.N.

By Thalif Deen
The new nation state of East Timor is among the world's 20 poorest countries in financial and human development terms, the U.N. Development Programme (UNDP) said Tuesday.

POLITICS: World’s Sea Ports Vulnerable to Attack, U.N. Warns

By Thalif Deen
The world's sea ports are vulnerable to terrorism, the United Nations warned Monday.

POLITICS: U.N. Agency Protests Israeli Travel Restrictions

By Thalif Deen
New travel restrictions imposed by Israel threaten to bring to a halt U.N. relief operations in the Israeli-occupied territories, says the U.N. Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA).

FINANCE: East Timor Supporters Cautious About Donor Pledges

By Thalif Deen
The international donor community pledged more than 360 million dollars in development assistance Wednesday to the nascent nation state of East Timor, which will be formally inaugurated Saturday.

POLITICS-IRAQ: U.N. Eases Civilian Goods, Tightens Arms Embargo

By Thalif Deen
The U.N. Security Council agreed unanimously Tuesday to ease the flow of civilian goods to Iraq while tightening the 12-year-old military embargo against the country.

RIGHTS: Arabs Want U.N. Summit to Focus on Palestinian Children

By Thalif Deen
The 22-member League of Arab States is prodding a U.N. summit meeting on children to highlight the plight of Palestinian youngsters, whose basic human rights are being violated in Israeli occupied territories, it says.

DEVELOPMENT: Groups Fault Governments for Deserting Children

By Thalif Deen
A coalition of more than 100 advocacy groups criticised governments worldwide Wednesday for reneging on pledges to protect children from sexual abuse, violence, and exploitation.

LABOUR: Asia, Africa Lead in Putting Children to Work – Report

By Thalif Deen
One child in every six has been put to work worldwide despite international efforts to tackle the problem, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) said Monday.
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