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Colum Lynch

@columlynch.bsky.social
1.4K followers 456 following 97 posts

Reporter at Devex News. Priors: Foreign Policy Magazine, Washington Post Brooklyn and United Nations

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Reposted by Colum Lynch
Devex @devex.com · 06/05/2026
Read @columlynch.bsky.social's full story via the link below.
devex.com
Exclusive: The UN’s $60 million fiasco
A cautionary tale on the pitfalls of playing in the high-stakes, risky world of impact investing.
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Colum Lynch @columlynch.bsky.social · 28/04/2026
Scoop: US threatens to withhold its dues to UN unless it implements several new cost cutting measures and moves a Chinese peace and development fund out of the Secretary General's office. By Elissa Miolene and me. www.devex.com/news/exclusi...
devex.com
Exclusive: US threatens UN funding halt unless conditions met
Internal Trump admin memos demand deeper cost cuts, insist U.N. chief reject China funds.
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Colum Lynch @columlynch.bsky.social · 26/11/2025
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...
devex.com
Exclusive: US-backed Haiti anti-gang force in search of lead battalion
U.N. veteran Jack Christofides has been chosen as special representative for the Haiti gang suppression mission.
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Colum Lynch @columlynch.bsky.social · 26/11/2025
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...
devex.com
Exclusive: US-backed Haiti anti-gang force in search of lead battalion
U.N. veteran Jack Christofides has been chosen as special representative for the Haiti gang suppression mission.
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Colum Lynch @columlynch.bsky.social · 30/09/2025
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...
devex.com
Exclusive: US seeks ouster of UN drug and crime agency chief
Washington faults the extended remote work arrangement.
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Reposted by Colum Lynch
Richard Gowan @richardgowan1.bsky.social · 08/08/2025
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...
devex.com
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.”
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Reposted by Colum Lynch
Richard Gowan @richardgowan1.bsky.social · 08/07/2025
"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-...
devex.com
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.
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Reposted by Colum Lynch
David Rothkopf @djrothkopf.bsky.social · 18/06/2025
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...
newrepublic.com
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.
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Colum Lynch @columlynch.bsky.social · 12/06/2025
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...
devex.com
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.
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Colum Lynch @columlynch.bsky.social · 04/06/2025
"Israel's new aid system is inhumane." UK mission to UN
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Colum Lynch @columlynch.bsky.social · 04/06/2025
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."
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Reposted by Colum Lynch
Eugene Chen @casquebleu.org · 29/05/2025
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
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Colum Lynch @columlynch.bsky.social · 28/05/2025
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...
devex.com
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.
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Reposted by Colum Lynch
Lou Charbonneau @loucharb.bsky.social · 22/05/2025
@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.
devex.com
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.
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Colum Lynch @columlynch.bsky.social · 21/05/2025
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-...
devex.com
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.
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Reposted by Colum Lynch
Richard Gowan @richardgowan1.bsky.social · 15/05/2025
Me on the big 🇺🇳 🍔 question @devex.com with @nataliesam.bsky.social and @columlynch.bsky.social. www.devex.com/news/devex-n...
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Colum Lynch @columlynch.bsky.social · 16/04/2025
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."
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Colum Lynch @columlynch.bsky.social · 16/04/2025
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...
devex.com
Scoop: Cyprus takes on Palestine for UN General Assembly presidency
A Palestinian victory would risk roiling U.S. relations with the United Nations.
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Colum Lynch @columlynch.bsky.social · 16/04/2025
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...
devex.com
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.”
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Colum Lynch @columlynch.bsky.social · 05/04/2025
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Colum Lynch @columlynch.bsky.social · 26/03/2025
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.
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Colum Lynch @columlynch.bsky.social · 26/03/2025
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...
devex.com
Exclusive: Palestinians launch bid for UN General Assembly presidency
Arab Group formally nominates Palestinian diplomat, setting stage for clash with U.S. and Israel.
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Colum Lynch @columlynch.bsky.social · 20/03/2025
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.
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Colum Lynch @columlynch.bsky.social · 20/03/2025
"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.”
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Colum Lynch @columlynch.bsky.social · 20/03/2025
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...
devex.com
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."
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Reposted by Colum Lynch
Laura Kirkpatrick @piper5078.bsky.social · 18/03/2025
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.
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Colum Lynch @columlynch.bsky.social · 17/03/2025
The future of a shrunk USAID by @elissamio.bsky.social www.devex.com/news/exclusi...
devex.com
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.
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Colum Lynch @columlynch.bsky.social · 13/03/2025
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...
devex.com
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.
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Colum Lynch @columlynch.bsky.social · 12/03/2025
"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...
devex.com
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.
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Reposted by Colum Lynch
Richard Gowan @richardgowan1.bsky.social · 10/03/2025
"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...
devex.com
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.
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Colum Lynch @columlynch.bsky.social · 07/03/2025
Exclusive: Trump administration pokes globalism in the eye in women's rights talks at UN www.devex.com/news/scoop-u...
devex.com
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.
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Reposted by Colum Lynch
The New York Times @nytimes.com · 28/02/2025
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.”
nytimes.com
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.
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Colum Lynch @columlynch.bsky.social · 05/03/2025
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."
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Colum Lynch @columlynch.bsky.social · 05/03/2025
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...
devex.com
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.
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Colum Lynch @columlynch.bsky.social · 28/02/2025
UN Secretary General António Guterres warns US foreign aid freeze imperils millions and undercuts the interest of Americans. It makes the "world less healthy, safe and prosperous." www.devex.com/news/un-chie...
devex.com
UN chief: US cuts make the world less healthy, safe, and prosperous
U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres warns that the U.S. foreign aid freeze imperils millions and undercuts the interests of Americans.
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Colum Lynch @columlynch.bsky.social · 28/02/2025
UN Secretary General António Guterres delivers a blistering rebuke of U.S. aid cuts, saying they will make world "less healthy, less safe, and less prosperous. The reduction of America's humanitarian role and influence will run counter to American interest globally."
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Colum Lynch @columlynch.bsky.social · 25/02/2025
Scoop: Trump administration tries to claw back UN commitments to expand role of women in peace efforts, and to counter disinformation www.devex.com/news/scoop-t...
devex.com
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Colum Lynch @columlynch.bsky.social · 25/02/2025
Don't know-- probably a bridge too far. They got to broadcast their opposition -- introducing hopeless amendments-- while avoiding a greater rupture with Trump weeks into a four year term. Also, they don't cast vetos lightly. It's been over 30 years since they excercised their veto power.
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Reposted by Colum Lynch
Colum Lynch @columlynch.bsky.social · 24/02/2025
Trump's 'beautiful Christians' left knocking on White House's door: Faith-based groups ensnared in USAID clampdown. www.devex.com/news/trump-s...
devex.com
Trump’s 'beautiful Christians' left knocking on White House’s door
The U.S. president has pledged special treatment for the faithful, but religious charities are suffering from foreign aid freeze.
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Reposted by Colum Lynch
Dalia Dassa Kaye @dassakaye.bsky.social · 24/02/2025
Stunning. All Middle East states other than Israel voted either in favor or abstained. Trump is going further in his support for Putin than even Arab countries that maintain good relations with Moscow.
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Colum Lynch @columlynch.bsky.social · 24/02/2025
Hard to find superlatives to convey the world-altering state of today's geopolitics expressed by this vote. The US voting alongside Russia, Belarus, Eritrea, Mali, North Korea, Nicaragua against a resolution condemning Russian invasion of Ukraine. Even Cuba and China abstained.
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Reposted by Colum Lynch
Richard Gowan @richardgowan1.bsky.social · 23/02/2025
Important context here fromm @scprocedure.bsky.social. www.scprocedure.org/chapter-9-se...
scprocedure.org
Chapter 9 Section 1(c) | unsc-procedure
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Colum Lynch @columlynch.bsky.social · 24/02/2025
Trump's 'beautiful Christians' left knocking on White House's door: Faith-based groups ensnared in USAID clampdown. www.devex.com/news/trump-s...
devex.com
Trump’s 'beautiful Christians' left knocking on White House’s door
The U.S. president has pledged special treatment for the faithful, but religious charities are suffering from foreign aid freeze.
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Reposted by Colum Lynch
Richard Gowan @richardgowan1.bsky.social · 22/02/2025
A storm looms Monday in the UN General Assembly, as the U.S. aims to undermine an EU-backed resolution marking 3 years of full-scale war in Ukraine. I talked to @afpfr.bsky.social. www.france24.com/en/live-news...
france24.com
US proposes Ukraine UN text omitting mention of occupied territory: diplomats
The United States proposed Friday a United Nations resolution on the Ukraine conflict that omitted any mention of Kyiv's territory occupied by Russia, diplomatic sources told AFP.
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Reposted by Colum Lynch
UN Report 🌐 @unreport.bsky.social · 22/02/2025
LATEST: USUN has requested a vote on its #Ukraine draft resolution on Monday, BEFORE 10 am (TBC still). Slightly amended text here from the previous one posted. ⤵️ #UNSC #RussianAggression #SecurityCouncil @screport.bsky.social @passblue.bsky.social @columlynch.bsky.social
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Colum Lynch @columlynch.bsky.social · 21/02/2025
Trump's "beautiful Christians" left knowing on White House's door. Faith-based groups hit hard by administration's dismantlement of USAID. www.devex.com/news/trump-s...
devex.com
Trump’s 'beautiful Christians' left knocking on White House’s door
The U.S. president has pledged special treatment for the faithful, but religious charities suffering from foreign aid freeze.
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Reposted by Colum Lynch
Devex @devex.com · 17/02/2025
Devex’s @columlynch.bsky.social discusses the International Organization for Migration's move to edit out references to sexual reproductive rights, diversity, equity, and inclusion on its website. #TWIGD #migration #diversity
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Colum Lynch @columlynch.bsky.social · 13/02/2025
Trump Administration has initiated a process to consider designating the Houthis as a Foreign Terrorist Organization.", said US chargé Dorothy Shea. It is imperative that the international community works together with regional partners to eliminate the Houthis’ capabilities."
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Colum Lynch @columlynch.bsky.social · 11/02/2025
IOM guidance to managers charged w/ delivering news."Be prepared for a range of emotions, from shock 2 anger or sadness. Select..right setting — choose a private, distraction-free space 2 hold the conversation, Practice ur approach — rehearse the message while maintaining empathy & professionalism."
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Colum Lynch @columlynch.bsky.social · 11/02/2025
Scoop: UN migration agency lays off 3,000 aid workers, as Trump foreign aid freeze spreads pain, chaos and mass job losses across the global aid and development sector. www.devex.com/news/un-migr...
devex.com
UN migration agency sends out 3,000 pink slips in mass layoffs
Mass jobs losses hit U.N. agencies as Trump foreign aid freeze hammers development and aid communities.
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