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

Rights Groups Call for Ban on Futuristic Killer Robots

By Thalif Deen
The predator drone - an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) - is one of the relatively new lethal weapons used by the United States for targeted killings of suspected terrorists, particularly in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Yemen and Somalia.

Israeli Firepower Threatens to Overwhelm Palestinians

By Thalif Deen
When the late Yasser Arafat, leader of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), was engaged in a heavily one-sided battle against a robustly-armed Israel in 2000, he admitted the Palestinians were completely outgunned by the Israelis.
Water and sanitation are basic human rights that underpin health, education and livelihoods. Credit: Manipadma Jena/IPS.

Thinking Outside the Stall on World Toilet Day

By Thalif Deen
When the United Nations commemorates World Toilet Day next week, there will be a lingering question in the minds of activists: how best can water and sanitation be given high priority in the proposed Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the U.N.'s post-2015 economic agenda?

Family Planning Falters Despite Treaty Commitments

By Thalif Deen
Since the 1966 International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the United Nations has consistently maintained that family planning is a basic human right to be exercised by all - not just the wealthy and otherwise privileged.

Slate for U.N. Rights Body Packed with Ringers

By Thalif Deen
When the former Human Rights Commission was partially dominated by countries accused of political repression, a U.S. congressman ridiculed the U.N. body where, he said, "inmates were taking over the asylum."

Brazil Emerging as Key Player at U.N.

By Thalif Deen
When a U.N. member state agrees to hold an international conference in its capital, the host country is not only offered the privilege of chairing the mega meeting but also given pride of place as the keynote opening speaker.

U.N. Warns Syria Heading Towards Destruction

By Thalif Deen
Following its failed efforts to contain the 19-month-old insurrection in battle-torn Syria, the United Nations has issued a new warning: the besieged country is heading towards "destruction".
SheltonGunaratne

Q&A: Is Print Media Headed for the Graveyard?

By Thalif Deen
As the digital revolution continues to spin out of control, several newspapers in the United States have either stopped their presses and ended print runs, or gone online.
Indigenous baby and mother in Chihuahua, Mexico. Social movements want indigenous rights and gender equity included in the concept of sustainable development. Credit: Mauricio Ramos/IPS

Wrangling Begins Over New Sustainable Development Blueprint

By Thalif Deen
As the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) limp towards their target date of 2015, the United Nations is shifting its focus to another long-term action plan: a new set of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Adultery Laws Unfairly Target Women, U.N. Says

By Thalif Deen
When one of the Asian countries embraced Islamic Sharia law back in the 1990s, the rigidly conservative government threatened to enforce a provision that called for convicted adulterers to be stoned to death.
Joyce Banda, the president of Malawi, said Africa makes up the single largest region within the United Nations, and a very significant proportion of issues discussed in the Security Council concern the African continent. Credit: UN Photo/J Carrier

Africa’s Claims for Security Council Seats Still in Limbo

By Thalif Deen
After 20 long years of negotiations on a proposed expansion of the Security Council, African countries continue to be left out in the cold - even as African leaders complain that the international community has failed to respond to their demands for two permanent seats in the most powerful body at the United Nations.

U.N. Launches Global Campaign to Abolish Child Marriages

By Thalif Deen
The United Nations has launched a global campaign to abolish an anachronistic social practice still prevalent in some communities around the world: child marriages.
The Chinese government collaborated with Madagascar in establishing a centre for hybrid rice development, where the average yield per hectare is two to three times higher than the average output of local rice Credit: Charlie Fong/public domain

South-South Cooperation Transcends Sharing Technical Knowhow

By Thalif Deen
When the United Nations commemorated the Day of South-South Cooperation last month, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon singled out a new development that transcends sharing technical know-how: coordination of government policy among developing nations.

Israel’s Hypocrisy on a Nuclear Middle East

By Thalif Deen
When world leaders packed their bags and headed home last week, there was one lingering memory of the General Assembly’s high-level debate: Benjamin Netanyahu’s dramatic presentation of a cartoonish nuclear red line, which hit the front pages of most mainstream newspapers in the United States.

Private Sector, U.N. Unite to Bring Millions into Classrooms

By Thalif Deen
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon Wednesday launched a new initiative aimed at giving education the highest political priority in the global agenda and ensuring progress towards the U.N.’s Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

U.N. Chief Jabs Media for Overblown Coverage of Hate Crimes

By Thalif Deen
When the United Nations commemorated International Day of Peace last week, the celebrations were marred by news of widespread rage in the Islamic world, a continued bloody civil war in Syria, suicide bombings in Iraq and Afghanistan and violent demonstrations in Pakistan, Indonesia and Bangladesh against a video caricaturing the Prophet Muhammad.

New Generation of Arab Leaders to Address World Body

By Walter García and Thalif Deen
When world leaders heading politically shaky authoritarian regimes lead their country’s delegations on overseas visits or attend international conferences, including the annual U.N. General Assembly sessions in September, there is always a lingering fear of either an insurrection or an attempted military coup back home.

As Aid Shrinks, U.N.’s Development Goals Under Threat

By Thalif Deen
If the developing world fails to meet the targets set in the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) – relating mostly to poverty, hunger, education, health care, gender empowerment and the environment – the primary blame for the failure would be on Western donors who have reneged on their aid commitments, according to a new report released here.

Amid Tension in Islamic World, U.N. Chief Pleads for Harmony

By Walter García and Thalif Deen
Amidst growing political tensions in the Islamic world over a video caricature of the Prophet Muhammad originating in the United States, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is making an “urgent “plea for political harmony worldwide.
"Unless women are in the forefront of this culture of peace, long-term solutions will elude us," says Ambassador Anwarul Karim Chowdhury, the prime mover of the 1999 General Assembly resolution that adopted the U.N. Declaration and Programme of Action on the Culture of Peace. Credit: UN Photo/Ky Chung

World Needs to Build a Culture of Peace, Says Ex-Envoy

By Thalif Deen
Since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defences of peace must be constructed, says the preamble to the constitution of the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).

Culture of Peace Should Replace Culture of Violence

By Thalif Deen
When U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon addresses the High-Level Forum on Culture of Peace later this week, he will transmit a message that underlines his political philosophy: all disputes need to be resolved by peaceful means, not through military might.
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