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

/IPS ENVIRONMENT BULLETIN/ UNITED NATIONS: Countries Prepare to Scrutinise UNEP

By Thalif Deen
One of the United Nations' primary environmental bodies will come under scrutiny at a Special Session of the 185-member U.N. General Assembly.

/IPS ENVIRONMENT BULLETIN/ DISARMAMENT: Army of U.N. Inspectors to Seek Out Chemical Arms

By Thalif Deen
The United Nations plans to create an army of more than140 inspectors to conduct routine, but unannounced inspections of suspected chemical weapons sites globally.

ENVIRONMENT-U.N.: Countries Prepare to Scrutinise UNEP

By Thalif Deen
One of the United Nations' primary environmental bodies will come under scrutiny at a Special Session of the 185-member U.N. General Assembly.

U.N.-DEVELOPMENT: UNDP Confident of Triple-Digit U.S. Funding

By Thalif Deen
The U.N. Development Programme (UNDP) is confident the United States will soon increase its funding to the agency, following a series of cuts in Washington's contributions in recent years.

U.N.-DISARMAMENT: Army of U.N. Inspectors to Seek Out Chemical Arms

By Thalif Deen
The United Nations plans to create an army of more than 140 inspectors to conduct routine, but unannounced inspections of suspected chemical weapons sites globally.

/IPS ENVIRONMENT BULLETIN/ UNITED NATIONS: Groups Predict Failure of Environment Talks

By Thalif Deen
A coalition of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) is disappointed over the failure of the United Nations to come to grips with the issue of global environmental degradation.

U.N.-ENVIRONMENT: Groups Predict Failure of Environment Talks

By Thalif Deen
A coalition of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) is disappointed over the failure of the United Nations to come to grips with the issue of global environmental degradation.

UNITED NATIONS: U.N. Saves Hefty Dollars by Going High-Tech

By Thalif Deen
A cash-strapped United Nations says it is saving millions of dollars by just going high-tech.

UNITED NATIONS: U.N. Bodies Under Scrutiny

By Thalif Deen
The head of the United Nations' highest policy making body wants every U.N. institution brought under scrutiny as part of the current restructuring of the financially ailing world body.

/IPS ENVIRONMENT BULLETIN/ UNITED NATIONS: U.N. Shuts Out Military Pollution Issue

By Thalif Deen
A coalition of more than 100 international organisations is accusing the United Nations of shutting out the politically sensitive issue of military pollution from its current environmental agenda.

UNITED NATIONS-ENVIRONMENT: U.N. Shuts Out Militarism, Groups Say

By Thalif Deen
A coalition of more than 100 international organisations is accusing the United Nations of shutting out the politically sensitive issue of military pollution from its current environmental agenda.

U.S.-U.N.: Bad Blood Flows Between New York and U.N.

By Thalif Deen
A U.S. organisation that promotes the interests of the United Nations says it would be a monumental tragedy if the world body opted to move some of its offices out of New York as a result of its tug-of-war with New York City over diplomatic parking.

UNITED NATIONS: U.N. Peacekeepers Demand Payment For Services

By Thalif Deen
The country that provides the largest contingent of troops for U.N. peacekeeping operations is complaining that the United Nations is not paying its bills.

U.N.-LIBYA: Libya Reserves Right to Defy U.N. Sanctions

By Thalif Deen
Libya says it has a moral right to defy U.N. sanctions as it transports its nationals to the annual Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia.

UNITED NATIONS: Countries Seek Review In Awarding Of U.N. Contracts

By Thalif Deen
A group of 24 countries, backed by the European Union (EU), is calling for a radical reform of the U.N. procurement system, arguing that almost 50 percent of all contracts now go to a single country -- the United States.

DISARMAMENT: U.S. May Have To Write Off Military Loans, Say Analysts

By Thalif Deen
The United States is owed a hefty 14 billion dollars in outstanding military loans by countries which used the easy credit to buy U.S.-made fighter planes, helicopters, warships, missiles, battle tanks, and armoured personnel carriers.

UNITED NATIONS: U.N. Raps Agency for Conference on Borrowed Funds

By Thalif Deen
The United Nations has faulted a U.N. environmental agency for financing a mega-conference on human settlements last year with borrowed funds.

UNITED NATIONS: Britian, U.S. to Discuss Last of Their Colonies

By Thalif Deen
The United States and Britain have finally agreed to sit down with the United Nations to discuss the future of the world's remaining 11 colonies scattered around the Caribbean and the Pacific.

U.N.-U.S.: Diplomats Want International Court To Rule On Parking Row

By Thalif Deen
The bitter row over parking privileges for U.N. diplomats has taken such a nasty turn that China and Russia want the issue taken all the way to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the Hague.

DISARMAMENT: Global Campaign Calls For U.N. Convention To Ban Nuclear Arms

By Thalif Deen
A coalition of 700 international organisations is launching a global campaign for a new U.N. convention that would ban nuclear weapons by the year 2000.

UNITED NATIONS: U.N. Rules Out Mass Lay-Offs

By Thalif Deen
The United Nations says it has no plans to throw a thousand staffers onto the streets as part of the plans to restructure the world body announced last week.
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