Devex Newswire: US stalls UNGA declaration on noncommunicable diseases

A highly anticipated declaration on noncommunicable diseases, or NCDs, has hit a last-minute hurdle: Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Also in today’s edition: Henrietta Fore talks the USAID-State Department merger, and Winnie Byanyima on whether reports of the death of UNAIDS have been greatly exaggerated.

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Not today, NCDs

The United Nations declaration on noncommunicable diseases hit a wall yesterday when the United States blocked the expected consensus after hours of country submissions, forcing a full General Assembly vote — which could possibly take place next month.

Earlier in the day, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had called the text “misdirected,” accusing it of pushing “destructive gender ideology,” and insisting it “exceeds the U.N.’s proper role.” The text does not mention gender except in relation to health challenges that women face.

He added that member states had agreed that the meeting should approve the declaration in advance by consensus to ensure the process would not be marred by controversy, but that the declaration is “filled with controversy.”

“The United States will walk away from the declaration, but we will never walk away from the world or our commitment to end chronic disease,” he concluded.

In a statement, the NCD Alliance said, “while it is disappointing that a tiny minority of governments voiced their objection to the declaration, they stand isolated. The momentum for accelerated action is growing.”

UNGA President Annalena Baerbock kept things diplomatic: “While I understand that there remain objections by some member states, there is also broad support for the text. The document will be considered by member states in the General Assembly.”

Read: US objections stall UN effort to tackle noncommunicable diseases

+ Listen: For the latest episode of our podcast series, Senior Editor Rumbi Chakamba sits down with our U.N. correspondent Colum Lynch and climate reporter Jesse Chase-Lubitz to discuss the latest from the 80th U.N. General Assembly.

School’s out

The Global Partnership for Education, hosted by the World Bank, rolled out a $5 billion replenishment drive — cohosted by Italy and Nigeria — that it says could unlock an additional $10 billion in cofinancing. The goal: improve education for nearly 750 million children between 2026 and 2030. Yet all this comes as aid for education is projected to drop by nearly a quarter by 2026.

Speaking at Devex Impact House at UNGA80, Former Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete, now GPE board chair, warned that the numbers already paint a dire picture: a 40 million teacher shortage today, and 900 million children set to leave school by 2040. “In the countries that we have partnerships with, we have to see that there is equal access. If they don't care about equal access,” he said, “then we have a problem with those countries.” He urged governments to commit 20% of national budgets to education. “We are seeing a lot of support [for] that one,” he added.

Speaking at the GPE replenishment launch, Nigerian Vice President Kashim Shettima gave the sharpest warning, noting his nation’s average age is just 16.9 years. “Make Africa work,” he said. “If Nigeria is to implode, there will be 50 million … Nigerians knocking on the doors of Europe.”

So far, GPE has secured more than $50 million in pledges from the JBJ, Inherent, and Dovetail Impact foundations. But as Grace Rector of the Global Campaign for Education-US told Devex: “That $5 billion is the least they can ask for, for what they’re trying to achieve.”

Read: As education fund launches $5B replenishment, a look at the numbers

Merger league  

The idea of folding USAID into the State Department isn’t new — Henrietta Fore lived it. Under former President George W. Bush, she served as both USAID administrator and director of the State Department’s Foreign Assistance Bureau when then-Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice floated a merger. “[Rice] had the concept that the secretary of state could benefit from having the politics as well as the money in her control and under her direction. And I think it was a smart idea,” Fore told a Devex Impact House @ UNGA80 audience.

Now CEO of Holsman International, Fore said governments could take cues from business. “We could streamline this. If you look at corporations, we would do it immediately. So why can't we do that in government?” she asked.

But she also lamented the loss of USAID staff under the Trump administration’s dismantling. “It's their experience, it's their expertise, it is all of their knowledge. And they are invaluable, and we are losing them quickly, so we're going to have to rebuild,” she said.

Read: Early proponent of USAID-State merger says it has its advantages (Pro)

Info wars

Earlier this week, 11 top economists sounded the alarm: The global information crisis poses “a dire threat to economic prosperity and human progress.”

They argued that media is as essential to today’s economy as central banks are to financial systems — a foundation of trust and accountability without which markets can’t function.

At Devex Impact House, Dr. Obiageli Ezekwesili, a member of the High-Level Panel on Public Interest Media, joined Nishant Lalwani, CEO of the International Fund for Public Interest Media, to discuss new evidence that positions media as critical economic infrastructure.

“We must have the kind of public journalism that the people can trust, because without trust, we know that institutions cannot work well,” said Ezekwesili, formerly vice president for Africa at the World Bank.

She warned against excluding citizens from reliable information simply because access is treated as a privilege. “We don't want a situation in our world where we just say we care about an inclusive world, and yet we exclude people just because an infrastructure like media and access to information is considered something that only those with the means to get it should have.”

Read: At UNGA80, leaders call for treating journalism as global public good

Kerry on

During an interview at Devex Impact House, Kerry reminded the audience that “when we talk about economic growth, we too often forget that it is deeply tied to human well-being.” She argued that stronger health systems are central to prosperity and to protecting communities from climate change.

The stakes are high: Fragile systems buckle when aid is cut, supply chains collapse, and medicines that cost just 16 cents a day disappear — with half a million lives lost as a result.

That’s why Kerry insisted health must be seen as “an economic driver, not a drain.”

Health workers, she said, are “the very versatile front line of responding to all the crises that we see today.” They save lives, stabilize economies, and strengthen communities — and they are essential to climate adaptation too, treating heatstroke, containing outbreaks, and responding in real time.

Her call to action? Use the data, use the money — and act now. “The money is actually there,” Kerry said. “Philanthropy does not need more data to know how to act right now. Now is the moment to take a risk.”

Read: Investing in health is investing in climate resilience, says WHO envoy

Financial freefall

Even before big cuts this year from the U.S., U.K., Germany, and France, the U.N.’s funding picture was far from rosy. We analyzed its new data on its income from 2023 — and even then it was staring down its sharpest financial drop in more than a decade, a plunge of 12.6% to $67.6 billion in 2023 from $77.4 billion in 2022.

Most of the U.N.’s money still comes from voluntary donations, which made up 69.1% of 2023’s haul. The World Food Programme led earnings with $9.1 billion despite a 39.2% collapse after U.S. funding plunged to $3.1 billion from $7.5 billion. But overall, the U.S. remained the biggest donor, giving $13 billion — down from $18.8 billion in 2022. Germany followed with $5.4 billion, then Japan with $2.5 billion, and China and the U.K. at $2.3 billion each.

Read: How United Nations funding started to fall in 2023 (Pro)

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Sunset talk sparks

U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres floated the idea of shutting down UNAIDS by 2026 — and Winnie Byanyima wasn’t having it.

“We are not going to disappear before the [HIV] pandemic itself has been sunset,” the UNAIDS executive director declared at an UNGA side event, to applause. “We will change, but we are not going to disappear.”

Later, in a quick elevator chat with my colleague Michael Igoe, Byanyima weighed in on the Trump administration’s new global health strategy, which leans on bilateral “compacts” to hand more funding responsibility to partner governments. Feasible? She said yes.

“Governments will have to reprioritize, and then they will have to look at how to raise more domestic resources,” Byanyima told Michael, noting that UNAIDS has already been pushing road maps for domestic financing.

Her prescription: “There's a need to look at more progressive taxation, closing tax loopholes, and increasing their spend on health and reducing their spend on other things that are not so essential. It's doable. It's doable.”

Read more: UNGA80 reporters’ notebook — Day 4

+ Check out our dedicated page for all the latest news, events, interviews, and behind-the-scenes tid-bits from UNGA80. 

In other news

More than 1,000 schoolchildren have fallen ill in the latest mass food poisoning event linked to Indonesia’s free lunch program this week. [BBC]

The Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean will invest $5 billion over the next five years on projects aimed at supporting children’s well-being and development. [Reuters]

A senior official in the U.S. Justice Department has reportedly told subordinates to prepare an investigation against George Soros and the Open Society Foundations, after President Donald Trump called on social media for Soros to be jailed. [New York Times]

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