Devex Pro Insider: UNGA is over — now what?

This past week was the high-level week of the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly, and development leaders flocked to New York for what was one of the key events in the calendar. U.S. President Donald Trump dominated proceedings, as usual, and the discussion was … interesting. “Everyone says I should get the Nobel Peace Prize,” Trump told the assembly during his speech — a claim that’s arguably somewhat to one side of the truth. The mainstream news was dominated by stories of Trump's battle with an escalator and a teleprompter. But within the U.N. itself — and in the aid sector — funding cuts continued to dominate. The U.S. owes the U.N. many millions of dollars from previous years and is also looking at huge cuts to voluntary contributions. It’s hard to say for sure that it will even pay its compulsory, assessed contributions. The U.N. — just like the European Union — is struggling to work out its strategy in the face of this bellicose approach. One curiosity is the continued return to negotiation with someone clearly so small-minded as to hand over any money. Why, if he isn’t going to pay, don’t the leaders of the U.N. just stop listening to him? There’s a quote that’s done the rounds for a long time, with different versions attributed to John Paul Getty and John Maynard Keynes, which seems to describe the position here: Owe the bank thousands, and the bank owns you. Owe the bank billions, and you own the bank. Meanwhile, we hosted a multiday event at Devex Impact House, with a nonstop program of development greats, and more than 2,200 high-level attendees across three days. And, let’s be honest, we got some pretty stellar feedback. It wasn’t just the venue, which was fantastic, nor was it just the food and drink, which were not just tasty but themed to the occasion — see below. I particularly like the Diplomatic Immuni-tini. If you’ll forgive me for straying wildly off topic for a moment, I’d like to share that I have to say the name in a thick South African accent because that’s how the bad guy does it in “Lethal Weapon II.” I like to imagine that every time you drink one, you’re supposed to toss it down in one go and growl, “It’s just been revoked.” Followed by shots, I guess. However, it wasn’t our knowledge of 1980s pop culture that made the event stand out, but a program of targeted, in-depth, development-focused content you won’t find anywhere else. All of the sessions from the event have been written up, and much of it will be exclusive to Devex Pro members, including our extensive Innovation Terrace interviews with aid leaders. We’ve brought you a nonstop tide of newsletters, notebooks, and interviews. Check out our UNGA focus page for all the key information. Some personal highlights: Mark Green, the former administrator of USAID, urging the aid community to stay engaged; David Beasley, former head of World Food Programme, on making America good again; and a group of former USAID staffers talking about how they raised $110 million to keep programs running. My colleagues who were on the ground in New York tell me that among the delegates at UNGA, the mood was unsurprisingly more somber than in prior years. But the assembly itself remained as high-profile and as vital as ever. After months of uncertainty about whether the U.N. General Assembly would even take place, it turned out to be perhaps the busiest one ever. Perhaps the most surprising takeaway: A sense of hope. Among the delegates at our event, perhaps the most pervasive feeling was that while our community has been shaken to its core by the sudden threat to the role of the traditional bilateral donor, this isn’t a moment to fear, but to reflect, take action, and change for the better. The history of the human race is littered with dark moments, but it tends toward progress. Bits and pieces Top tips. Want to know how to handle a funding crisis? One particularly interesting session at Devex Impact House featured Shawn Baker, chief program officer at Helen Keller Intl. Here are his top tips: • Quantify early. Helen Keller Intl quickly assessed how many people would lose essential services, framing the damage in human terms. • Triage carefully. With no single donor able to backfill, the organization focused its limited resources on the most cost-effective, lifesaving interventions. • Tailor messaging. Helen Keller Intl reached out with clear, three-part communications: We’re still here and delivering; here’s the projected damage; and here’s where new or additional support could help. • Use trusted media. By engaging media outlets — such as Devex — the nonprofit spotlighted the real-world impacts without politicizing the issue. • Safeguard core capacity. Thanks to flexible funding, the organization was able to retain essential infrastructure and be ready to scale back up. MUNGA. It’s going to be a pretty heavily UNGA-themed edition, for obvious reasons. And here we have a lesson in the value of context — this hat, spotted at Devex Impact House last week. Obviously, it’s a U.N.-themed response to the “Make America Great Again” hats that have become ubiquitous among Trump supporters. But what’s the message? Are we to assume that the U.N. was great years and years ago, and Trump is going to reform it with his brand of tough love? Or that the U.N. was great last year, until much of its funding got pulled? Or maybe it’s just that this guy is Mr. United Nations General Assembly and wants a hat to signify that fact. Anyway, it’s kind of cool. Costno. The U.S. has a new and almost unimaginably petty weapon in the diplomatic war against rogue states: Costco. For those who don’t do much shopping in the U.S., Costco is a membership warehouse club where you can stock up in bulk on staple items. But for Iranian diplomats, in particular, there will be no more cut-price flat packs of 72 rolls of toilet paper, because, according to reports in the Associated Press, the State Department has identified that membership to a wholesale store is a benefit, not a diplomatic right. In theory, it seems, U.S. officials can remove Costco membership from any diplomat who cheeses them off. But right now, it appears to have used the new rule as a big “screw you in particular” to Iran. H-1Begone. The Trump administration’s aggressive anti-immigrant policy has also led to a change in how it processes visas for foreign workers. The H-1B visa, designed to bring in highly skilled workers from overseas, will now cost $100,000. It’s a strange move, given that the visa is primarily used to bring in workers for the Silicon Valley tech industry, which has singlehandedly propelled U.S. growth for the last decade while the rest of the world has faltered. But there are concerns about how it will affect the aid sector too, since aid organizations are significant importers of foreign nationals with particular skills. If you’re concerned about the impact on your organization, let me know at david.ainsworth@devex.com. Closed society. Another front in the same culture war seems to be opening up against international development funders, with organizations such as the Ford Foundation and Open Society Foundations particularly name-checked. A story in The New York Times claims that a senior Justice Department official has asked prosecutors to draw up a list of possible charges against OSF, including terrorism. OSF hit back strongly. “These accusations are politically motivated attacks on civil society, meant to silence speech the administration disagrees with and undermine the First Amendment right to free speech,” a spokesperson said in a statement. Chemonical reaction. While all eyes were on New York, something was up in the United Kingdom, where more than half of Chemonics UK’s board of directors resigned last week. Those giving up their positions include Chemonics International CEO Jamey Butcher; former Chemonics International president Susanna Mudge; U.S. business veteran Gunjan Bhow; former CEO of the U.K.’s Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply Malcolm Harrison; and law firm Fieldfisher, which held the role of secretary. The departures leave three directors remaining. The U.S. development giant launched in the U.K. in 2019, but like other U.K. contractors, it faced a tougher-than-expected environment as the government began cutting the aid budget soon afterward. Chemonics UK recorded a loss of £7.9 million in 2023, which included £2.3 million spent on “segmentation from the USA.” More recently, its parent company, Chemonics International, has suffered from turbulence in the U.S., resulting in mass layoffs. We asked Chemonics about the resignations, but they have so far offered no comment. Trash talk. Our reporters have left no stone unturned this week in covering UNGA. In the lead-up to the event, we brought you news that one of our reporters, Michael Igoe, had been on the ground 10 years ago to see the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals. This week, he tracked down an even more effective inside source to get the dirt. In memoriam Andrew Kraus, former director of veterans outreach for the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition, died last week in a helicopter crash in Washington state, according to USGLC President and CEO Liz Schrayer. In Schrayer’s LinkedIn post, she wrote that Kraus left USGLC to join the army in 2017. “His commitment to help protect our nation was demonstrated through every aspect of his work,” she wrote, “whether making the case for diplomacy and development or the need for supporting our nation’s servicemembers and veterans.” Moving on Africa CDC has hired Troy Fitrell, formerly the top U.S. diplomat in Africa, as an adviser to help navigate its dealings with the U.S., according to the Africa Report. Fitrell recently had a leading role at the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of African Affairs, and before that served as U.S. ambassador to Guinea. Eric Besong will take on a new post as a resilient and sustainable systems for health adviser at the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Lawrence Gostin is retiring from his role as cofaculty director of the Georgetown University Law Center’s global health-focused O’Neill Institute. He will remain a member of the faculty of the law school. Tawanda Muzhingi is the new chair of the Institute of Food Technologists International Division. He was previously the executive director of the Global Forum for Plant Based and Alternative Proteins, and he is an expert with the Food and Agriculture Organization.