Colum Lynch

New York, United Nations Headquarters

Senior Global Reporter at Devex

Senior global reporter at @Devex. Priors: @foreignpolicy & @washingtonpost. Signal: 917-439-4531; follow me @columlynch.bsky.social

Articles

US abandons Financing for Development conference

1 week ago | devex.com | Colum Lynch

The Trump administration on Tuesday withdrew from United Nations negotiations on a global pact to finance the world body’s Sustainable Development Goals, rejecting calls for increased lending by development banks and asserting that the text improperly seeks to usurp the existing governance role of international financial institutions.
Exclusive: US seeks to gut UN development goals

2 weeks ago | devex.com | Colum Lynch

The Trump administration is undertaking a sweeping effort to claw back a range of prior United Nations commitments to promote internationally agreed development and anti-poverty goals, scale back global corporate regulation, and reform the international financial architecture, according to internal U.S. amendments in negotiations on development financing.
Scoop: Funding cuts at UN children's agency fuel intense staff pushback

2 weeks ago | devex.com | Colum Lynch

The United Nations Children’s Fund is facing intense pushback from staff over its plans to sharply shrink its ranks and dramatically scale back programs from Europe to Central Asia, saying the plans would ultimately harm the children it serves, according to internal complaints from UNICEF’s hard-hit regional offices.
Trump administration pokes panda over UN population policy

3 weeks ago | devex.com | Colum Lynch

Washington poked the panda on Tuesday, publicly criticizing the legacy of Beijing’s now-defunct one-child policy, and triggering a sharp Chinese rebuttal accusing the United States of risking millions of lives with its steep aid cuts.
State Dept overhaul to cut 3,400 jobs, recast focus on US values

4 weeks ago | devex.com | Colum Lynch

The State Department is planning a sweeping reorganization of its global operations, eliminating thousands of posts, downgrading the role of human rights and democracy promotion, and bolstering its ability to advocate American and Western values on the world stage, according to a leaked copy of the department’s formal notification to Congress. The move portends something of a cultural revolution within the United States' oldest federal department.
UN chief outlines plans for thousands of new job cuts

1 month ago | devex.com | Colum Lynch

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres is seeking to eliminate 20% of jobs across the , which employs some 35,000 people, and reduce spending in the U.N.’s nearly $3.7 billion regular budget by up to 20% in 2026, according to an internal memo by the U.N. comptroller. The proposed cuts — which could result in the loss of thousands of jobs — are part of Guterres’ reform initiative, dubbed UN80, designed to prepare the world body for a massive reduction in U.S. financial support.
Former UN relief chief says world body's reforms lack vision

1 month ago | devex.com | Colum Lynch

Martin Griffiths, the former United Nations emergency relief coordinator, is concerned that the world body is going about its latest reform initiative in the wrong way, prioritizing numerical downsizing targets over forging a clear vision for the future that demonstrates its usefulness. “The U.N. system gets mired in mandates, and it gets mired in competition. We all know that,” Griffiths said in an interview with Devex on the sidelines of the World Health Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland.
Have I got a deal for you: UN in search of cheap housing

1 month ago | devex.com | Colum Lynch

Rwanda, Qatar, and others make offers to house financially strapped U.N. agencies. Wanted: cheap housing in an affordable city for U.N. institutions, diplomats, and civil servants forced by high rents out of Geneva and New York City.
Trump and the future of the UN

1 month ago | devex.com | Colum Lynch

A pair of U.N. insiders opine on the meaning of a Trump presidency for the world body. During U.S. President Donald Trump’s first term, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres was honored with not one, but two White House visits.
UN chief outlines 'painful' survival plan for world body

1 month ago | devex.com | Colum Lynch

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres proposed the need for major staff cuts, including the elimination of 20% of civilian workers in key departments of the U.N. secretariat, and to make hard decisions to eliminate a range of programs they can no longer afford.