US & partners chose UN pking veteran Jack Christofides as special representative for US-backed gang suppression force. No lead military contingent has been identified. Canada will host a December 9 'force generation" conference to persuade governments to participate.
www.devex.com/news/exclusi...
UN pking veteran Jack Christofides chosen to lead U.S.-backed gang suppression mission in Haiti. Still haven't selected a lead battalion to spearhead operation. www.devex.com/news/exclusi...
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...
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 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.
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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 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 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...
@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.
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.
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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."
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...
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.
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.”
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.
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...
"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...
"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...
Exclusive: Trump administration pokes globalism in the eye in women's rights talks at UN
www.devex.com/news/scoop-u...
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.”
