Amy Pope, the U.S. candidate to lead the United Nations’ migration agency, is now free to tell you what she thinks of her boss, who is also now her rival for the world’s top migration job, and the agency they both lead.
He’s old-fashioned and worst of all, doesn’t travel enough. That is a conspicuous trait for a man responsible for the fate of more than 280 million migrants. As for the Geneva-based migration agency: It has been too reactive to crises, fallen short in shaping global policy debates, and has failed to adequately anticipate migration flows before they develop into cross-border calamities.
Pope, who recently took unpaid leave from her job at the International Organization for Migration, is heading into the final weeks of an increasingly contentious campaign to unseat her boss, António Vitorino, a Portuguese national seeking a second five-year term as head of the migration outfit. And things are getting a little heated.
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.
