Dileep Nair ( ml, ദിലീപ് നായർ) is a

Singaporean Singaporeans, or the Singaporean people, refers to citizens or people who identify with the sovereign island city-state of Singapore. Singapore is a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural and multi-lingual country. Singaporeans of Chinese, Malay, India ...

diplomat and bureaucrat, who was the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

Under-Secretary-General for Internal Oversight Services and head of the

United Nations Office of Internal Oversight Services The United Nations Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) is an independent office in the United Nations Secretariat whose mandate is to "assist the Secretary-General in fulfilling his internal oversight responsibilities in respect of the re ...

. In that capacity, he oversaw investigations of wrongdoings related to the United Nations in a range of countries including within the headquarters. The Oil-for-food scandal was initially investigated by Dileep Nair's office before turning it over to the investigating body headed by former

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

Federal Reserve The Federal Reserve System (often shortened to the Federal Reserve, or simply the Fed) is the central banking system of the United States of America. It was created on December 23, 1913, with the enactment of the Federal Reserve Act, after a ...

Chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

Paul Volcker Paul Adolph Volcker Jr. (September 5, 1927 – December 8, 2019) was an American economist who served as the 12th chairman of the Federal Reserve from 1979 to 1987. During his tenure as chairman, Volcker was widely credited with having ended the ...

. Nair completed a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

mechanical engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and mathematics principles with materials science, to design, analyze, manufacture, and ...

from

McGill University McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter granted by King George IV,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill Universit ...

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

in 1973. From 1974, he worked in Singapore's

Housing and Development Board The Housing & Development Board (HDB) (; ms, Lembaga Perumahan dan Pembangunan; ta, வீடமைப்பு வளர்ச்சிக் கழகம்) or often referred to as the Housing Board, is a statutory board under the M ...

. And in 1979, he joined the Administrative Service, working in the Ministry of Finance. During his time in the finance ministry, he earned a master's degree in

public administration Public Administration (a form of governance) or Public Policy and Administration (an academic discipline) is the implementation of public policy, administration of government establishment (public governance), management of non-profit establ ...

from

Harvard Kennedy School The Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), officially the John F. Kennedy School of Government, is the school of public policy and government of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school offers master's degrees in public policy, public ...

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

in the

. In 1986, Nair rose to the post of Deputy Secretary at the Ministry of Trade and Industry where he was involved in the Uruguay Round of

General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is a legal agreement between many countries, whose overall purpose was to promote international trade by reducing or eliminating trade barriers such as tariffs or quotas. According to its pre ...

(GATT) negotiations, as well as with the

Association of Southeast Asian Nations ASEAN ( , ), officially the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, is a political and economic union of 10 member states in Southeast Asia, which promotes intergovernmental cooperation and facilitates economic, political, security, militar ...

(ASEAN). From 1989 to 1997, Nair was Singapore's Deputy Secretary at the Ministry of Defence. In 1997, he left the civil service to become the CEO of the Post Office Savings Bank of Singapore; the bank was acquired in 1998 by the

Development Bank of Singapore DBS Bank Limited, often known as DBS, is a Singaporean multinational banking and financial services corporation headquartered at the Marina Bay Financial Centre in the Marina Bay district of Singapore. The bank was previously known as The Dev ...

and Nair stayed on as DBS's Managing Director. Nair was appointed to a five-year term as

Under-Secretary-General for Internal Oversight Services on 24 April 2000, succeeding

Karl Paschke Karl Theodor Paschke is a former Under Secretary General for the United Nations. He was born in Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 milli ...

in that position. In 2000, he wanted to determine vulnerability of the

Oil-for-Food Programme The Oil-for-Food Programme (OIP), established by the United Nations in 1995 (under United Nations Security Council, UN Security Council United Nations Security Council Resolution 986, Resolution 986) was established to allow Iraq to sell Petrole ...

for

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

Benon Sevan Benon Vahe Sevan (born December 18, 1937 Nicosia, Cyprus) was the head of the United Nations' Oil-for-Food Programme, established in 1996 and charged with preventing Iraq's government from using the proceeds from oil exports for anything but food, ...

, the head of the programme, along with UN Deputy Secretary-General Louise Frechette, rejected any such investigation, claiming that it would be too expensive to be worthwhile. In 2004, Nair was investigated for unspecified internal accusations of

graft Graft or grafting may refer to: *Graft (politics), a form of political corruption *Graft, Netherlands, a village in the municipality of Graft-De Rijp Science and technology *Graft (surgery), a surgical procedure *Grafting, the joining of plant ti ...

and

sexual harassment Sexual harassment is a type of harassment involving the use of explicit or implicit sexual overtones, including the unwelcome and inappropriate promises of rewards in exchange for sexual favors. Sexual harassment includes a range of actions fro ...

against female staff. Nair relinquished his post upon expiration of his five-year contract and returned to his native Singapore on 23 April 2005. Subsequently, in May 2006, Secretary General

Kofi Annan Kofi Atta Annan (; 8 April 193818 August 2018) was a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh secretary-general of the United Nations from 1997 to 2006. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize. He was the founder ...

sent a letter to Nair clearing him again of all the allegations from the staff union and expressed regret at the extended period of unnecessary and unmerited public innuendo that Nair had been subjected to. He was appointed the Singapore

Consul General A consul is an official representative of the government of one state in the territory of another, normally acting to assist and protect the citizens of the consul's own country, as well as to facilitate trade and friendship between the people ...

in the emirate of

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...

in August 2005 and served there for 6 years. In June 2011, Nair was appointed as the Singapore Ambassador to Laos and was posted in Vientiane. After completing his term in 2013, Nair was appointed as Singapore's High Commissioner to Ghana, residing in Singapore. Nair completed his term in 2017. Nair is currently an Independent Director on three public listed companies in Singapore: Keppel Data Centre REIT, Thakral Corporation, and Singapore Reinsurance. Nair is also on the board of the Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority of Singapore and the Health Sciences Authority of Singapore.

References

External links

UN Biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nair, Dileep Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Harvard Kennedy School alumni Singaporean diplomats Singaporean people of Indian descent Singaporean people of Malayali descent Singaporean Hindus McGill University Faculty of Engineering alumni Consuls