Devex Pro Insider: What happened to aid jobs in 2025?

This week, Devex has published not one but two special reports to help paint a picture of the world of international development, both of which are available, for free, to you, dear Devex Pro member — our annual analyses of the top employers in the development jobs market and the top foundations funding development. Perhaps the key finding in the first report was that the number of jobs advertised fell considerably last year, with a drop of 27%. More generally, we found it was a tough year for the United Nations, which has historically dominated the list. There were still six U.N. agencies in the top 10, but at dramatically reduced levels. UNICEF, the top employer in 2024, saw a swan dive in jobs advertised — plunging from more than 7,000 in 2024 to 3,484 last year. It was a tumultuous year for INGOs and consultants, too. The one group of employers that was largely unaffected? Multilateral development banks. The biggest employer of last year was the Asian Development Bank, which published more than 4,500 jobs. Philanthropy, meanwhile, is another sector that continues to grow, driven by strong markets that have helped grow endowments and by a rise in the wealth of the billionaire class. Our report, which is based on a mixture of official data from the OECD and the foundations’ own annual reports, found a sector that has grown in real terms year after year, even before the decision to rapidly scale up Gates Foundation funding in anticipation of its sunsetting in 2045. We also saw significant stability in the list of the top foundations, but even so, there were two new entries in the list — the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation and Good Ventures. I spoke with my colleague Raquel Alcega to discuss these findings — and other questions about philanthropy — and that discussion is also available to Pro readers. We hope you find all of this useful. Bits and pieces That’s Sall, folks. The competition is heating up to choose the next leader of the United Nations, and in the last week, two more candidates have thrown their hats in the ring — Macky Sall, the former president of Senegal, and Rebeca Grynspan, former vice president of Costa Rica. They join two other declared candidates: former Chilean President Michelle Bachelet and Argentine diplomat Rafael Grossi, the current head of the International Atomic Energy Agency. There are a couple of odd points to note about Sall’s nomination. First, Sall was put forward not by his own country, but by Burundi, which is more than 3,000 miles away as the crow flies. Sall did not receive formal backing at the recent African Union summit, as is normal practice for African candidates going for senior international roles. The final thing to note is that Sall is neither Latin American nor a woman — as the more astute of you will already have noticed. There has been a widespread swell of opinion that the next leader of the U.N. should be female, and there is something of a gentleman’s agreement that Latin America should get to put forward the next candidate. But given that the United States is highly influential in the decision-making process and has not given its blessing to either of these propositions, it seems likely that the bets are off on this front. Coming up Trumps. Meanwhile, there’s another new U.N. leader who you may not have on your bingo card — Melania Trump. The U.S. first lady presided over a meeting of the U.N. Security Council on Monday — the first time the spouse of any world leader has done so, according to the BBC. The meeting focused on children and education. Iran, unsurprisingly, pointed to the hypocrisy involved, given accusations that the United States bombed an elementary school, killing at least 175. Overstretched. As the conflict in Iran threatens to metastasize across the Middle East, and violence escalates between Pakistan and Afghanistan, it’s fair to say that the leaders of U.N. humanitarian agencies are struggling to respond. Tom Fletcher, the head of the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, issued a statement on Tuesday describing the situation in the region as “increasingly daunting.” Humanitarian agencies were already dealing with close-to-famine levels in Gaza and a long-standing conflict in Yemen. So it is probably also not a perfect time for the United States to have reduced its humanitarian funding budget to the lowest levels in recent memory. Everybody wants to be an influencer. It’s been a tough few weeks for the Oxfam network. The storied INGO has faced a storm of criticism and a rift on its board over the removal of the leader of its U.K. arm, Oxfam GB. Now Oxfam International, the Nairobi-based organization that acts as a hub for all 22 members of the network, is facing negative press in the U.K. over a leaked document purportedly proposing a shift away from the organization’s “triple mandate” of humanitarian, development, and campaigning work, toward a model in which the charity would focus primarily on campaigning and influencing, and away from direct support. Former staff members quoted in the article were highly critical of the idea, although Oxfam itself has framed the paper as nothing more than an item for discussion. What’s up at Adeso? Oxfam is not the only organization facing press criticism this week. There were some startling allegations flying around about a poster child social enterprise from the global south. According to a report in The New Humanitarian, Nairobi-based organization Adeso is “beset by a culture of fear, allegations of financial mismanagement, and a governance crisis that saw at least six board members resign in a single year.” In a lengthy article, former staff members put forward allegations of bullying and misconduct, with a particular focus on the organization’s executive director, Degan Ali. Adeso, meanwhile, is quoted as saying that The New Humanitarian had been “misled by a few disgruntled former employees and former board members.” Devex reached out to Adeso for further comment, but had not received a response at the time this newsletter was finalized. Merit award. Finally, let’s mention a proud moment for Rabih Torbay, chief executive of Project HOPE, the U.S. health and humanitarian NGO that has been providing support in Ukraine since 2022. Torbay recently received the Order of Merit from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. In memoriam Feminist organizations have paid tribute to Yanar Mohammed, cofounder and director of the Organization of Women’s Freedom in Iraq, who was assassinated in Baghdad on March 2. MADRE, an organization that partnered with OWFI to deliver training and support in Iraq, said in a statement that it was devastated by her loss. “Yanar’s assassination is a stark reminder of the risks feminist leaders continue to face globally, and of the ongoing threats to human rights movements,” the statement said. “Yet, we also remember that Yanar’s life was a testament to feminist courage rooted in action and fueled by love. She protected people where there was danger, created platforms where women could speak out, and insisted that all people deserve full rights. “As we grieve, we honor a beautiful life that propelled justice – with joy, purpose, love and courage.” Moving on Scott Dubin — a veteran of USAID and Chemonics — is starting a new position as the lead for fraud prevention and integrity within the Office of the Inspector General at The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. “Much of my work in supply chain has centered on anticipating risk before it materializes,” he wrote. “In this new role, the lens widens. My goal is to turn insight into foresight, whether by identifying patterns across audits and investigations or by working directly with teams to address emerging risks before they escalate.” Adam Aspinall has joined Unitaid in a new role intended to improve transparency and coordination for novel malaria interventions among funders, implementing and country partners, manufacturers, and normative bodies. He was previously senior director of access and product management at Medicines for Malaria Venture, where he has been for the past 13 years. Maria de los Angeles Mejia has been appointed as regional award and compliance manager at CARE International. She spent the preceding three years at UNICEF. Amy Weiss, James Robinson, and Nadia Smith will be joining the USA for UNHCR board of directors. Robinson is the executive director of the geopolitical practice at global advisory firm APCO. Smith is a managing director and partner in Accenture’s strategy and consulting practice. And Weiss is the founder and CEO of Weiss Public Affairs, a strategic communications firm. Constant Tchona has joined Cordaid as cluster director for West Africa, where he will implement the NGO’s regional strategy. Tchona previously worked at Plan International for almost five years, where he was country director in Mali and Ghana. Dr. Peter Olumese will start a new position as technical lead for malaria case management at the World Health Organization. Olumese has been with WHO for 25 years, working on malaria case management. Hibaq Dougsiyeh is starting a new role as development program officer at Integrate Health, an NGO focused on strengthening health care systems in West Africa. She previously worked in various roles as a business development manager. Coming up The 70th session of the Commission on the Status of Women, or CSW70, will take place at the United Nations headquarters in New York from March 9 to 19. Member state representatives and a multitude of NGOs will gather to discuss gender issues, with this year’s theme centering around access to justice for all women and girls, including by promoting inclusive and equitable legal systems, eliminating discriminatory laws, policies, and practices, and addressing structural barriers. In an exclusive story, my colleagues Colum Lynch and Elissa Miolene report that the U.S. is already weighing in — and throwing its weight around. The Trump administration has voiced its opposition toward U.N. proposals to create a reparations fund for female victims of violence and to regulate artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies that can potentially fuel misinformation and hate speech targeting women and girls. For more on the story, check out Elissa’s special CSW70 newsletter coming out Monday. Also, Elissa will be on the ground at the event. If you’re there or have a tip, drop her a line at elissa.miolene@devex.com. The annual meetings of the Inter-American Development Bank will take place in Asunción, Paraguay, from March 11 to 14. The gathering is a forum for discussion among the boards of governors of IDB and IDB Invest, most of whom are ministers of finance, presidents of central banks, or other high-level authorities of member countries. Representatives of multilateral financial institutions, development agencies, private banks, and other partners attend as well. Also in attendance will be my colleague Jesse Chase-Lubitz, who’ll be tracking the key issues for IDB. If you’re there or have a tip, drop her a line at jesse.chaselubitz@devex.com. Job of the week Your Devex Pro membership includes access to the world’s largest global development job board. Here’s the latest opportunity: chair of the Scientific and Technical Advisory Panel to the Global Environment Facility at the United Nations Environment Programme. Search for more opportunities.