Colum Lynch

Exclusive: US seeks ouster of UN drug and crime agency chief Washington faults the extended remote work arrangement.

Exclusive: U.S. seeks ouster of UN drug and crime agency chief, cites extended remote work arrangement, but comes as US pursues militarized approach to global drug fight. www.devex.com/news/exclusi...

Deep dive: The UN — from big ideas to big cuts The United Nations’ “Summit of the Future now feels like it was the Summit of a Bygone Era.”

I talk to @columlynch.bsky.social about how the UN has gone from "big ideas to big budget cuts" in the space of a year.
www.devex.com/news/deep-di...

The UN's changing of the guard Ready, set, go: A potential new crop of U.N. leaders are entering the campaign trail for a series of elections that will reshape the world body for years to come.

"The reality is that the next generation of U.N. leaders will spend their time managing retreat, retrenchment and redundancies." I tell @columlynch.bsky.social @devex.com.
www.devex.com/news/the-un-...

We Better Pray That No Unexpected Crisis Hits While Trump Is President It’s a world exploding with crises waiting to happen. Donald Trump has made us less prepared for every one of them.

If you live in the US, you are in greater jeopardy today than you were 6 months ago. So is your family. So are your friends & neighbors. Virtually all the important parts of the U.S. gov't created to protect us are being shut down, gutted, or marginalized. My latest. newrepublic.com/article/1968...

Exclusive: US seeks to gut UN development goals American negotiators proposed hundreds of amendments aimed at reversing prior commitments to achieving U.N. Sustainable Development Goals.

Exclusive: US upends U.N. negotiations on development financing, putting forward more than 400 amendments that are being largely dismissed by lead negotiators.
www.devex.com/news/exclusi...

"Israel's new aid system is inhumane." UK mission to UN

UN relief coordinator: "The world is watching, day after day, horrifying scenes of Palestinians being shot, wounded or killed in Gaza while simply trying to eat."

It is entirely unclear what the SG is trying to accomplish here. Arbitrary staffing cuts not only won’t bring the fundamental reform needed at the UN. It also won’t address the liquidity crisis. If the U.S. withholds, it doesn’t matter how small the pie is. 22% will still be missing. #UN80

UN chief outlines plans for thousands of new job cuts United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres calls for eliminating 20% of jobs in the U.N. Secretariat.

UN Secretary General instructs managers to cut thousands of additional jobs in fields from peacekeeping to development and human rights. www.devex.com/news/un-chie...

Have I got a deal for you: UN in search of cheap housing Rwanda, Qatar, and others make offers to house financially strapped U.N. agencies.

@columlynch.bsky.social reports on UN's cost-cutting plans & cheap-housing offers from #Rwanda #Qatar etc

I told him: #China & #Russia have tried to slash funding for human rights. Until now, the US has provided the most powerful counterbalance to that, but now there's a risk the US won’t do that.

Have I got a deal for you: UN in search of cheap housing Rwanda, Qatar, and others make offers to house financially strapped U.N. agencies.

Germany begins discussion w/ U.N. Secretary General about prospect of covering costs of relocating U.N. staff to Bonn from New York and Geneva. Rwanda offers inducements, including tax breaks and low cost facilities, to establishing U.N. hub in Kigali.

www.devex.com/news/have-i-...

Me on the big 🇺🇳 🍔 question @devex.com with @nataliesam.bsky.social and @columlynch.bsky.social.
www.devex.com/news/devex-n...

Story updated with State Department spox comment:

"The US opposes the Palestinian observer's candidacy for UN General Assembly president. We do not support the Arab Group's decision to nominate Riyad Mansour, nor think this bid is a realistic option to advance the cause of peace."

Scoop: Cyprus takes on Palestine for UN General Assembly presidency A Palestinian victory would risk roiling U.S. relations with the United Nations.

The annual election for the UN Gen Assembly presidency is generally a sleeper. But Palestine's bid for the top U.N. post in 2026-27 has set the stage for a clash with Washington that could risk US funding to wider UN. Now Cyprus is mounting a challenge. Scoop.
www.devex.com/news/scoop-c...

What lay behind the deaths of 7 World Central Kitchen staff in Gaza Devex spoke with 14 former and current staff, all of whom detailed a culture of letting safety slide to the periphery and a tendency to “build the plane while flying it.”

Exclusive: Chef José Andrés' World Central Kitchen earned a reputation as fearless front-line humanitarians. But relief outfit's staff are expressing concerns about what they see as inadequate security standards. Must read investigation by @elissamio.bsky.social
www.devex.com/news/what-la...

Asked to describe the potential impact of an election of a Palestinian as the head of the U.N. General Assembly, one U.N. official texted Devex an emoji with an exploding head.

Exclusive: Palestinians launch bid for UN General Assembly presidency Arab Group formally nominates Palestinian diplomat, setting stage for clash with U.S. and Israel.

Scoop: Palestine is mounting a campaign for presidency of the UN General Assembly, and the collective brain of the UN community is exploding! www.devex.com/news/exclusi...

My daughter took a bus last night from Montreal to New York. Not a single person got on the bus with her. The bus driver said hop in, I'm your limousine rider. No passengers till they arrived in Plattsburgh, NY.

"We must immediately and substantively reduce our expenditures,” UNHCR chief Filippo Grandi he added. “Shrinking the size of our workforce will unfortunately not be sufficient, alone, to reduce our expenditures.”

Exclusive: UN Refugee Agency braces for thousands of job cuts UNHCR chief warns Washington's "brutal" foreign aid freeze putting "millions of lives at risk."

Scoop: UN refugee agency, UNHCR, braces for massive layoffs. One official said it could be as much as a quarter of the work force, some 5,000 to 6,000 workers. www.devex.com/news/exclusi...

Scoop in @devex.com by @columlynch.bsky.social : UN employees approached by ICE, urged to carry G4 visas and passports with them at all time by sr leadership.

Exclusive: Inside the closed-door meeting on USAID’s future The ideas for the agency’s future were shared by Tim Meisburger, the head of USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance, in a closed-door meeting on Wednesday.

The future of a shrunk USAID by @elissamio.bsky.social www.devex.com/news/exclusi...

Scoop: UN migration agency cuts more jobs, shutters lifesaving programs The International Organization for Migration lays off 20% of its headquarters staff, cease lifesaving operations from Myanmar to Yemen.

Scoop: UN migration agency cuts more jobs, shutters lifesaving programs from Myanmar to Yemen. At least 20 percent of headquarters slashed. "Entire units are gone. Massive loss of institutional and sectoral knowledge," one source told Devex.

www.devex.com/news/scoop-u...

Trump's new 'loyalty test' for UN and aid groups U.S. asks U.N. agencies and NGOs whether they collaborate with communists, totalitarians, or terrorists.

"It's multilateral McCarthyism," said one senior diplomat.

Trump's new loyalty list for UN and aid groups: US asks U.N. agencies and NGO whether they collaborate with communists, totalitarians or terrorists www.devex.com/news/trump-s...

Scoop: US pokes globalism in eye in women's rights talks at UN In the first U.N. conference since the election, the U.S. tries to check the U.N.'s bid to advance the role of women in peacemaking, potentially dampening prospects for a woman secretary-general.

"The whole point is to poke the supposed forces of globalism in the eye."

I talk to @columlynch.bsky.social @devex.com about the Trump administration's approach to the UN.
www.devex.com/news/scoop-u...

Scoop: US pokes globalism in eye in women's rights talks at UN In the first U.N. conference since election, the U.S. tries to check the U.N.'s bid to advance the role of women in peacemaking, potentially dampening prospects for a woman secretary-general.

Exclusive: Trump administration pokes globalism in the eye in women's rights talks at UN

www.devex.com/news/scoop-u...

U.S. Terminates Funding for Polio, H.I.V., Malaria and Nutrition Programs Around the World Here are some of the 5,800 contracts the Trump administration formally canceled this week in a wave of terse emails.

The Trump administration terminates funding for polio, HIV, malaria and nutrition programs around the world.

“People will die,” said Dr. Catherine Kyobutungi of the African Population and Health Research Center, “but we will never know, because even the programs to count the dead are cut.”

U.S. diplo Edward Heartney on Tuesday: "put simply, globalist endeavors like Agenda 2030 & the SDGs lost at the ballot box. Therefore, the United States rejects & denounces the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development & the [SDGs], and it will no longer reaffirm them as a matter of course."

Exclusive: World Vision braces for mass layoffs Religious charities appeal for relief in confidential meeting with Peter Marocco, the State Department's enforcer of foreign aid cuts.

Scoop: World Vision braces for mass layoffs; Religious charities appeal for relief in confidential meeting Friday with Pete Marocco, State Department's enforcer of foreign aid cuts.
www.devex.com/news/exclusi...