The campaign to select the United Nations humanitarian relief czar has entered its final stages, according to several U.N.-based officials and diplomats.
U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres has whittled the list down to two candidates: Robert Piper, an Australian-British national, and Tom Fletcher, a former U.K. ambassador to Lebanon and foreign policy adviser to three British prime ministers.
Fletcher, the U.K.’s official candidate, is currently the principal of Hertford College, Oxford University, and vice chairman of the university. He is the author of four books, including titles such as “Ten Survival Skills for a World in Flux” and “The Naked Diplomat: Understanding Power and Politics in the Digital Age” and has no experience managing complex humanitarian operations.
About the author
Colum Lynch
Colum Lynch is an award-winning reporter and Senior Global Reporter for Devex. He covers the intersection of development, diplomacy, and humanitarian relief at the United Nations and beyond. Prior to Devex, Colum reported on foreign policy and national security for Foreign Policy Magazine and the Washington Post. Colum was awarded the 2011 National Magazine Award for digital reporting for his blog Turtle Bay. He has also won an award for groundbreaking reporting on the U.N.’s failure to protect civilians in Darfur.
