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2025 has been a year of conflict, upheaval, and huge challenges to the international system. 

Gunilla von Hall, Svenskadagbladet: "It all started downhill from 20th of January. Since then, it's just, well, ‘the Ukraine war will be over in 24 hours?’ Nothing happened. It just got worse. Then we had Gaza, then we have Iran, Israel. Then we had the cuts of all the aid. It's very bleak. I think we should just not give up our hope, but it looks really... We have four years."

The humanitarian work Geneva does has been decimated. Nick Cumming-Bruce, contributor, New York Times: "What is disturbing is the very casual destruction of international institutions and agreements that have been pulled together over many years, decades of works since World War II, and which for all their many imperfections are trying, with some cases significant success, to address the critical challenges that the world faces."

Is everything bleak? Or can we find some hope somewhere?

Imogen Foulkes, host of Inside Geneva: "These are hard times and people I think are very anxious at the moment. Maybe we should still pay tribute, hat tip, to the humanitarian work that comes out of Geneva. People who, they don't live peacefully here in this quiet city. They are in Gaza, they are in Sudan, they are in Afghanistan."

Listen to Inside Geneva for a review of the first six months of a momentous year.

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Israel blocked aid into Gaza for 10 weeks. Then the US and Israel came up with a new plan – without the United Nations. Established aid agencies had doubts. Inside Geneva finds out why.

Jan Egeland,secretary general, Norwegian Refugee Council: ‘We would welcome anything that would allow us to resume work for a population that is starving and that has been suffocated by a siege over two months. But this seems to be militarized, politicized, manipulated. People have to walk long distances through the rubble to get aid.’

The new Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has had a disastrous start. Dozens of Palestinians have been shot trying to get aid.

Chris Lockyear, Secretary General, MSF: ‘This is not child's play. It is not a military operation. It is a different thing that requires years and decades of experience to get where we've got to now. So it breaks my heart to say it, but it wasn't a surprise to see those horrendous images from the first day of operation of the GHF in Gaza.’

It’s not clear who is actually running the new Foundation, but international lawyers warn they could be liable for war crimes.

Philip Grant, Trial International: To lend material aid to the Israeli plan can be construed as complicity in the war crime of forcible displacement of the civilian population. And that would entail first of all the possibility for any state, almost any state in the world to use universal jurisdiction.

Meanwhile the UN warns that Gaza’s population is now close to famine.

Jan Egeland: We now hope to see Europe, the United Nations and those who are there to defend international law to stand up for principle when Israel is besieging 2 million Palestinians, where half of them are children and totally innocent.

Join host Imogen Foulkes on Inside Geneva

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The world just agreed a pandemic treaty. But without the United States. Is it really a milestone?

‘‘It is a major step forward. I mean, just imagine if we failed. We would not only go back to the point before the pandemic, before COVID-19 struck us, we'd go back to a point much further back,” said Zeid Ra’ad al Hussein from the International Peace Institute.

But what about the global challenge of climate change?

“We're up against a ticking clock. And even though we've enjoyed successes in the past, even though the renewables rollout is going rather well, it's all too little, too late from the point of view of avoiding genuinely dangerous degrees of warming,” says climate security expert Peter Schwartzstein.

Why can’t world leaders really unite around global challenges?

‘Their children and grandchildren have to deal with abominable and extreme heat levels and forest fires and fierce hurricanes and no trade and collapsed economies and extreme food security and complete anarchy. Is this what they wish for their children. What form of love is that?” continues al Hussein.

Join host Imogen Foulkes on Inside Geneva for in-depth analysis of where we stand.

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It’s been 30 years since the Beijing Declaration on Women, a landmark agreement to empower women and girls.

“The Beijing declaration was such an incredible moment to say that enough is enough. Women are half of humanity and we have to be better,” says Lata Narayanaswamy, associate professor at the School of Politics and International Studies at the University of Leeds.

But now, some governments are rolling back women’s rights. Humanitarian programmes that help women and girls are being cut.

“During his first presidential term, Trump vetoed a new resolution proposed under the UN Women, Peace and Security agenda because it enshrined the right of women to their reproductive rights,” says Leandra Bias from the Institute of Political Science at the University of Bern. 

What’s happening? Support for vulnerable women is being cut, and toxic masculinity is growing. The UN is worried.

“I am concerned about the resurgence in some quarters of toxic ideas about masculinity and efforts to glorify gender stereotypes, especially among young men,” said UN human rights commissioner Volker Türk. 

This week Inside Geneva asks what toxic masculinity actually means. Is it even new?

“What worries me about the language of toxic masculinity is that it’s like, ‘Oh my God, we didn’t know this was coming.’ But it’s actually just a continuity of how violence and patriarchy combine,” says Narayanaswamy. 

Is there a connection between toxic masculinity and the repression of women? Are both now identifiers for authoritarian regimes?

“‘We are the tough guys, we are actually the proper nations, while look at Europe, they have been completely emasculated and therefore they are not a model to aspire to.’ Therefore, democracy is also not a model to aspire to,” says Bias. 

Join host Imogen Foulkes on Inside Geneva to listen to the full episode. 

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On Inside Geneva this week, aid agencies count the costs of funding cuts. 

“I am most sad for all the millions of people living with HIV and affected by HIV whose lives have been upended. They have lost access to life-saving medication. They have showed up at clinics for support, only to find no one there to help them,” says Angeli Achrekar, Deputy Executive Director for the Programme Branch at the Joint United Nations (UN) Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS). 

The cuts are hitting women and girls especially hard.

“Right now, a woman dies from a preventable form of maternal mortality every two minutes. That’s unacceptable. One of the grants that the United States has just cut supports the training and salaries of midwives,” says Sarah Craven, Director of the Washington Office of UNFPA, the UN Population Fund. 

What will happen to local NGOs in crisis zones that relied on UN support?

“I have to have hope. I am the leader of the Sudanese Red Crescent Society. I have staff and 12,000 volunteers behind me. So, I always have to be really strong and give hope to everyone to continue serving Sudan,” says Aida Al-Sayed Abdullah, Secretary General of the Sudanese Red Crescent Society.

But could the cuts bring much-needed reform?

“Sure, the humanitarian system isn’t perfect. It can be inefficient and a little bit colonialistic at times. But it was delivering results. We were seeing actual progress. Now, in just a few months, decades of progress will be erased,” says Dorian Burkhalter, SWI swissinfo.ch journalist.

Or will the cuts cost lives and cause more crisis?

“We’re so close to ending AIDS, full stop. Now, we could very well be turning back completely. All those years of work, dedication and progress,” says Achrekar.

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On Inside Geneva this week, we ask whether the United Nations (UN) and multilateralism have a future.

“Is the UN anachronistic? I mean, it was formed after the Second World War. Obviously, it’s getting a little bit dusty,” says political analyst Daniel Warner.

Younger generations from the Global South tell us where
they see the UN’s flaws. 

“The countries of the Global North have not stood up to the ideals that they have created in an equitable manner. It’s simply like preaching water and drinking wine,” says Pratyush Sharma from the Global South Centre of Excellence in Dehli.

“The United Nations Security Council is absolutely inefficient in dealing with the reality of people, especially from the Global South,” continues Marilia Closs from Plataforma CIPÓ in Brazil.

“The Global South cannot exist on its own. Likewise the Global North also cannot exist on its own,” says Olumide Onitekun from the Africa Policy and Research Institute in Nigeria.

But the UN was created for very good reasons.

“When you think about the end of the Second World War and how the UN was created, the world was so sick and tired of war, they wanted it to end. It’s a different mindset. You know, it just makes me think, is that what we’re going to need?” says Dawn Clancy, UN journalist in New York.

Can the UN survive? Join host Imogen Foulkes on our Inside Geneva podcast to find out.

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The world is changing fast. Are democracy and human rights under threat? Our Inside Geneva podcast takes a deep dive.

“Donald Trump is unravelling the constitution, where I believe we could describe this as a coup d'état,” says human rights lawyer Reed Brody.

What happens when Big Tech gets involved in politics?

“It is fine for Instagram or TikTok to realise that I am into biking and then try to sell me bikes. That’s fine. That’s a product. Manipulate me to sell me that. But that’s not fine with political ideas,” continues Alberto Fernandez Gibaja, Head of Digitalisation and Democracy at the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA).

What about free speech?

“For the first time in my life, I am listening to Americans on the radio and TV, talking to the press and refusing to use their names because they are afraid of retaliation,” says Brody.

Is it still possible to have a democratic, fact-based debate?

“For those of us who believe that we share a reality based on facts and science, we are on the losing side,” says Fernandez Gibaja.

Are we losing the fundamental freedoms set out in the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights? Join host Imogen Foulkes on Inside Geneva to find out.

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In Ukraine, and in the Middle East, men say they are negotiating peace. But are they?

“Ending war is necessary to peace without a doubt, but ending war does not mean peace. So, whenever these men use the word ‘peace’ in order to say ‘ceasefire’ and ‘stop the guns’, this is not peace,” says Deborah Schibler from PeaceWomen across the Globe (PWAG).

“What the US is doing right now is an extractivist assertion of power, arguably even a second imperial ambition that we are seeing now alongside Russia. Democracy, peace and gender equality mutually reinforce each other,” adds Leandra Bias from the Universtiy of Bern.

So, where are the women in these “peace” negotiations? Our guests tell Inside Geneva that they should be everywhere... not nowhere.

“Women, women’s perspectives, gender perspectives and human security perspectives have to be in every process and every structure of armed forces,” says Mahide Aslan, head of women and diversity at Swiss Armed Forces.

“There are so many women who are really keen to get involved in these formal peace negotiations and who are ready for it, but it is made very difficult for them,” says Larissa Lee, from PWAG.

How can women’s voices be heard in peace talks? Join host Imogen Foulkes on our Inside Geneva podcast.

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On Inside Geneva this week, we take a step back from the breaking news and talk to the authors of two books about the better side of humanity.

“The defence of human rights is not a matter of holding a candle and singing Kumbaya. The defence of human rights is about playing hardball. It's about putting pressure on governments, making them realise that repression isn't paying because the consequences are so severe,” says Kenneth Roth, author of Righting Wrongs.

Those consequences apply to violations of the laws of war – laws that are much stricter than you might think.

“One can speak about the leaders of a war of aggression as having individual criminal responsibility. If it’s illegal for the leader, maybe it’s illegal also for the soldiers who participate in it. And maybe it’s a violation not just to kill civilians on the other side, but Ukrainian soldiers,” continues Andrew Clapham, author of War.

Defending human rights doesn’t always make you popular.

“I made sure that Human Rights Watch was bringing facts to the table that the governments didn’t know. That was part of my job. My father fled the Nazis as a young boy. I grew up Jewish. I am Jewish. So I feel a certain responsibility to take on not just the duty of criticising Israeli abuses, but also to address the misuse of anti-Semitism,” says Roth.

And while some governments are pushing back, international law is robust.

“You might think that by changing the lawyers or creating facts on the ground, you’re going to get away with it. But those war crimes allegations stick to you for life. There’s no statute of limitations on war crimes, and you could easily find yourself prosecuted in ten or 20 years’ time,” says Clapham.

Join host Imogen Foulkes for in-depth interviews on two thought-provoking books.

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On the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Inside Geneva has some big questions about the US-Russia talks this week on ending the war in Ukraine.

“Is this really a peace deal or is it just a deal about money? Or is it even some kind of capitulation or a power grab?” asks Inside Geneva host Imogen Foulkes.

What does US President Donald Trump want?

“Do you want to just stop the war, or do you want to win it? We don’t know what President Trump would consider a win. One suspects it’s a win that would be purely transactional in US interests,” says Nick Cumming-Bruce, contributor for the New York Times.

Who will have to make sure that peace is sustainable?

“The US will take the decisions together with Russia, with Putin, but who is going to do the real work afterwards? It is Europe,” adds Gunilla von Hall, correspondent for Svenska Dagbladet. 

How can negotiations even take place without Ukraine?

“We will never be able to talk about peace and sustainable peace as long as the Ukrainians are not involved, because the grievances will remain,” says Laurent Sierro, journalist at the Swiss News Agency Keystone-ATS. 

These are tough questions for the US, Europe and Ukraine. And what about the United Nations – does it have a role at all? Join us on Inside Geneva to find out.

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On Inside Geneva, we take a deep dive into the United States’ cuts in foreign aid.

“In Colombia, they’ve just had to lay off 200 staff who were doing the demining in the south of the country. So, all of a sudden, these families have no work. And the alternative in the area, you know what it is: coca plants. So how is that in the US interest?” asks Tamar Gabelnick, director of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines.

“The freezing is not democratic. Congress has voted for some of these programmes and it's Mr. Trump, Mr. Musk, etc. who are cutting them out without the approval of Congress. So, legally, I don't see how they can do this,” says analyst Daniel Warner.

Why is Washington cutting something that is a lifesaver for vulnerable people worldwide, but costs just 0.2% of the US gross national product?

“President Trump and Musk will say that these cuts to USAID are about shrinking a bloated bureaucracy and getting rid of waste and fraud. But I'd say that this whole thing has more to do with ideology and politics,” continues Dawn Clancy, a journalist based in New York.

What happens when ideology cuts humanitarian aid?

“It's not just American isolationism. It's not just America first. There seems to be a quite deliberate undermining of fundamental freedoms,” says Imogen Foulkes, host of the Inside Geneva podcast.

“We don't have four years. The international legal framework and universal human rights are at a critical juncture and are being eroded, threatened and instrumentalised in unprecedented ways. Now is the time to step up,” says Phil Lynch, Executive Director of the International Service for Human Rights.  

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With Israel banning UNRWA and the US planning to withdraw from WHO, our Inside Geneva podcast reports on a turbulent couple of weeks for United Nations agencies. 

In Gaza, Israel’s ban on the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) has come into effect.

“UNRWA is what we call the backbone of the humanitarian operation. Meaning that they not only bring in aid themselves, but they are also the operation on which all other humanitarian actors depend,” says Jorgen Jensehaugen from the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO).

US President Donald Trump has also announced that the US will leave the World Health Organization (WHO).

“This is going to mean that all of the vital work of the WHO – polio eradication, AIDS, TB and malaria – will be even more underfunded,” continues Lawrence Gostin, professor of Global Health Law at Georgetown University in the United States.

Trump has also ordered a freeze on US foreign aid.

“The 90-day suspension is a death sentence for many small NGOs who simply don’t have the finances to weather this period,” says Colum Lynch, a senior global reporter for Devex, a media platform for the development community.

Where does that leave the UN’s humanitarian work?

“I think there is an increasing disrespect for what the UN stands for,” says Jensehaugen.

“This is really the end of foreign aid as we know it,” concludes Lynch.

Join host Imogen Foulkes on our Inside Geneva podcast.

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In this week’s Inside Geneva podcast episode, we ask: what makes a good peace agreement?

“Peace is not just a status. Peace is a process, and it’s a process that is part of politics in general,” says Laurent Goetschel from Swisspeace.

So, are quick peace deals possible?

“When someone says, ‘I want to have an agreement in 24 hours,’ my response as a professional is, ‘Okay. What are our ideas? What is possible right now? What is the most that can be made out of this possibility, if indeed it is a possibility?’” says Katia Papagianni from the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue.

Does peace mean more than just the end of fighting?

“Peace, meaning just the absence of war, can be the result of a negotiation, maybe even a short negotiation between powerful actors directly or indirectly involved in the conflict. But it’s not only about stopping hostilities. It’s about working towards conditions that tackle the major issues. And this is a longer-lasting process,” adds Goetschel.

Can a peace agreement offer everything that everybody wants? Can all human rights be protected immediately?

“A peace agreement cannot guarantee the protection of human rights; it can just keep the door open and create some form of foundation for the political actors of a country to actually pursue the aspiration of protecting human rights,” adds Papagianni.

Join podcast host Imogen Foulkes to hear about the tough, practical realities – and the hard work and patience needed – to create a sustainable peace agreement.

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For our planet, each year brings new climate records, and they’re not good ones.

“We now know that 2024 is on track to be the warmest year on record. At the same time, we have accumulated more CO2 than ever in the history of human life on Earth,” says Celeste Saulo, Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organization.

On Inside Geneva this week, we look at the damage from the perspective of United Nations (UN) aid agencies.

“Climate change is making us sick, and it’s making us sick because it’s increasing the possibility of having more infectious diseases and waterborne diseases like cholera. It’s also sometimes destroying the capacity to produce food,” says Maria Neira, Climate Change Director at the World Health Organization.

We also hear how aid agencies are trying to reduce their own carbon footprints.

“Anyone who’s in the field at the moment shouldn’t be using their own agency vehicles. We should be ride-sharing. We’ve got 6,000 vehicles. Why aren’t they electric? We’ve got 6,000 generators. Why aren’t they all solar-powered?” says Andrew Harper, Climate Change Advisor to the UN Refugee Agency.

It’s part of a local Geneva initiative called 2050 Today to encourage the city’s UN agencies, diplomatic missions and private enterprises to tackle climate change.

“In my small mission, we know that our contribution may be minor in comparison, but we also understand the power of collective movements. By sharing the 2050 Today tools with our other embassies throughout the world, we aim to reduce our emissions by 45% from our 2022 levels,” says Matthew Wilson, the Ambassador of Barbados to the UN in Geneva.

Sometimes great things start local – join host Imogen Foulkes on Inside Geneva to find out how.

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In 2024 there are more than 100 conflicts ongoing, worldwide. A record number of aid workers have been killed. 

Tom Fletcher, UN Emergency Relief Coordinator: ‘It’s not just the ferocity of these conflicts, Gaza, Ukraine, Sudan, Syria. It’s about that wilful neglect of international humanitarian law. And as a result we seem to have lost our anchor somehow. That scaffolding, that we felt was there, international humanitarian law that I was hoping we’d be taking for granted at this point, is shaking.’ 

Inside Geneva asks whether we have given up on international law. 

Nico Krisch, Professor of International Law, Geneva Graduate Institute: If I see the Europeans talks about international law and the rules based order, but then keep supporting Israel in the face of the International Court of Justice - deliver weapons, not take part in the negotiations on the legally binding instrument on business and human rights that many countries in the global south want, then I ask well, what do you really mean by your commitment to international law and multilateralism? 

Can the United Nations survive such double standards? 

Richard Gowan, Crisis Group: I think the rest of the UN membership is watching this, they’re seeing a fragmenting international order, and they are profoundly frustrated. 

And what about the long term effects of so much violence, for the perpetrators as well as the victims? 

Cordula Droege, Chief Legal Officer, ICRC: Humanitarian law is also based on the fact that to dehumanise your enemy means that you also dehumanise yourself. And if you do it on a large scale you dehumanise the entire society and the fabric of society. 

Is the age of multilateralism, cooperation, the ‘rules based order’ over? 

Jan Egeland, Secretary General, Norwegian Refugee Council: The ideals were shared by more governments, there was more unity of purpose. And today there is more nationalism, introspection, skepticism. Europe first, America first, me first, rather than humanity first. 

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In this week’s Inside Geneva episode, UN correspondents in Geneva and New York look back at 2024. 

Dorian Burkhalter, journalist, SWI swissinfo.ch: ‘Wars everywhere, climate change, deepening inequalities, AI…it’s just threats everywhere. But it just seems like the more global our problems are becoming, the weaker the UN is also becoming.’ 

But is the biggest event of the year the US election? 

Nick Cumming-Bruce, contributor, New York Times: ‘It’s hard to top the US election because it’s already dominating the conversation on everything else that we’ve covered in 2024.’ 

What could an isolationist America first strategy mean for the UN, and for the multilateral system? 

Dawn Clancy, UN correspondent, New York: ‘Pulling out of the Paris Agreement, or the WHO, threatening to cut funding, the US is the biggest funder of the UN, billions of dollars. So it’s just going to be chaos and no leadership.’ 

Are we on the verge of a new world order, without the guardrails of international law, or the Geneva Conventions?  

Imogen Foulkes, host, Inside Geneva: ‘The world is changing, while I’m watching, in terms of our fundamental principles, the world is changing while I’m watching, and for a while I didn’t even quite notice it.’ 

 Join us on Inside Geneva for an in-depth discussion of 2024, and some predictions for 2025. 

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Is the world still committed to human rights? Our Inside Geneva podcast is in Strasbourg, where the Council of Europe is discussing how to defend the fundamental principles we agreed upon after the Second World War.

“We can’t just say, ‘Do it because it’s a human right’ or ‘Do it because it’s in a treaty.’ We have to demonstrate: ‘Do it, and this is how it will make your society better and stronger,’” says Michael O’Flaherty, Human Rights Commissioner at the Council of Europe.

With autocracies in Russia and China and uncertain times ahead in the US, can Europe hold the line?

“If Europe doesn’t get this right, I can guarantee you it will not be good for Europe. It will be worse in the rest of the world as well, so it’s a vicious spiral,” continues Peggy Hicks, UN Human Rights.

But even in Europe, the commitment to human rights is sometimes weak.

“For many, human rights are a bit of an afterthought in our policy. It’s something to make us feel good about ourselves,” says Olof Skoog, the EU’s Special Representative for Human Rights.

We also talked to Sofia Moschin, student and human rights defender, who said that “inside Europe, there are constant violations of human rights, so I don’t agree with the narrative that Europe is a human rights champion.”

We also talked to Sofia Moschin, a student and human rights defender, who said, “Inside Europe, there are constant violations of human rights, so I don’t agree with the narrative that Europe is a human rights champion.”

How should Europe stand up for its values?

“I’m not going to accept defeatism. Get furious – that’s what we need to do now. Don’t throw in the towel, don’t surrender. Get indignant, get furious and fight back to save this astonishing achievement,” says O’Flaherty.

Join host Imogen Foulkes on the latest episode of our Inside Geneva podcast to listen to these interviews in full.

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This week Inside Geneva goes to New York. The United Nations (UN) General Assembly is hearing multiple reports of serious human rights violations.

“I think it’s more difficult to get the human rights message [across] here in New York at the General Assembly. But hopefully we will be heard,” says Mariana Katzarova, UN special rapporteur on human rights in Russia.

Ukraine, the Middle East and Sudan are on the agenda. But so is the situation of human rights groups inside Russia.

“The situation with political prisoners in Russia today is no longer a crisis, it’s a catastrophe. We now have more political prisoners in Russia alone than there were in the whole of the Soviet Union, so that’s 15 countries put together,” says Vladimir Kara-Murza, a former political prisoner.

In Geneva, the Human Rights Council can order investigations – but will New York respond?

“There is Gaza, the situation in Sudan, Myanmar, Syria – so many conflicts and humanitarian disasters, and there’s an inability of member states to reach an agreement,” says Louis Charbonneau, UN Director at Human Rights Watch NGO.

The UN Security Council, dominated by the US, China, Russia, the United Kingdom and France, can’t agree – so it’s paralysed.

“I do have moments where I perhaps would like to stand up in the middle of the chamber and say: ‘Hey, do something!’ But that’s not professional and I would lose my press pass,” says journalist Dawn Clancy.

The UN’s main role is upholding peace and security. Is New York failing?

“For peace and security, human rights are the core. Without human rights we cannot have peace or security,” says Katzarova.

Join host Imogen Foulkes for Inside Geneva – in New York!

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On Inside Geneva this week we talk to the people behind a new book about life in Gaza, told through the words of those who live there. 

“People are actually travelling in the middle of a war, in the middle of Gaza at midnight – the peak of the risk, if you like – to get somewhere where they can get a better internet so they can actually talk to us,” says Mahmoud Muna, editor of Daybreak in Gaza. 

This book, edited by Mahmoud Muna and Matthew Teller with Juliette Touma and Jayyab Abusafia, is about history, culture, food, music and life. 

“It’s not a football game. This is about our humanity and it’s about being able to sympathise with people wherever they are. This is not about taking sides. It’s about whether we’re human or not,” says Touma. 

“This book does not give voice to the voiceless. The people of Gaza, like people everywhere, have voices. The point of this book is not to give a voice; the point of this book is to amplify the voices of the people who are not being listened to,” continues Teller. 

In this episode, we also ask why human rights groups are uneasy about the upcoming UN Climate Change Conference (COP29) in Azerbaijan. 

“Dozens have been arrested in the months leading up to COP29, including 16 journalists, other society activists, and NGO leaders. There is still time for Azerbaijan to set the record straight, and they should release them. The UN should engage with Azerbaijan to ensure that it does so,” says Giorgi Gogia from Human Rights Watch. 

Tales from life in Gaza, climate change, and human rights. Catch this and more in the latest episode of our Inside Geneva podcast.

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The presidential elections in the United States (US) are just a couple of weeks away. What will they mean for international affairs, for Ukraine, for the Middle East, for humanitarian work, for international law and for the United Nations (UN) in Geneva?

“When I was in the US, I definitely saw that there is no interest for anything called multilateralism or collaboration globally. Because it’s a matter of support – political, financial and moral support for international questions and for international Geneva. I think Europe is there, yes, but I don’t think Europe will be able to match the US,” says Swedish journalist Gunilla von Hall.

Does it even matter who wins? Or is the waning support for multilateralism part of a bigger problem?

“Is multilateralism a system that allows all countries to deal with each other in a civil and non-violent way where common interest prevails? Or is it the appearance of a system that allows the continued hegemony of the old powers after the Second World War?” says Tammam Aloudat head of the international medical aid charity Médecins sans Frontières (MSF) Netherlands.

“There are two words that are key here. One is the notion of polarisation, not only in the United States, but internationally. We see it in Geneva, we see it everywhere. The second is the word transactional. Everything seems to be transactional: ‘what’s in this for me?’ instead of someone coming in and saying: ‘for the common good'," adds analyst Daniel Warner.

Would the multilateral system even be better off without the US?

“I don't think we can afford to sit in an arena where our hope for multilateralism, which still is in the UN and its institutions, [means we are] sitting still, taking the constant bullying of the United States,” says Aloudat.

Join host Imogen Foulkes on our Inside Geneva podcast to discover how important the US still is these days.

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It’s been one year since the October 7 attack by Hamas on Israel. Twelve months of violent conflict have followed, with tens of thousands dead. We look back at our coverage over the past year.

“What we have to deal with is the immense stupidity of the wars that currently are in place. And here we are having to deal with wars of a sort that were better found in the history books devoted to the 20th century and ought not to have a place in the 21st,” said Zeid Ra’ad al Hussein, former United Nations Human Rights Commissioner.

How have the aid agencies coped?

“People tend to believe we can do things that we cannot do. We have no army. We have no weapons,” said Fabrizio Carboni, regional director for the Near and Middle East at the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

How do they respond to critics who believe they should do more?

“If we could release them all we would do it as soon as possible. If we could visit them we would visit them. And at the same time it takes place in an environment which is Gaza,” added Carboni.

Why are we so quick to war, and so slow to peace?

“There’s a focus on the centrality of my pain, the pain my community feels and I feel, and I want the world to stand with me whoever I may be, and I demand it as a recognition of my suffering. But then the obvious question is, but how often do we, as individuals, side with others who are experiencing pain,” said al Hussein.

Join host Imogen Foulkes for this special episode of the Inside Geneva podcast.

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For 40 years, there has been an absolute ban on torture. But it still happens…

“Horrific things can happen to you. Nobody is there to help you. Nobody is there to document it, etc. And I think sometimes we speak about torture without putting ourselves in the shoes of what this is,” says Gerald Staberock from the World Organisation Against Torture.

On our Inside Geneva podcast this week, host Imogen Foulkes finds out how the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment came about.

“The convention came in the 1980s, arising out of terrible situations in Latin America, the dictatorships in Chile and Argentina in particular. And of course, torture, enforced disappearances, and killings were used as a matter of course to suppress their populations and to suppress opposition,” explains Alice Edwards, UN Special Rapporteur on Torture.

Today, some say torture might be justified in certain circumstances.

“We didn’t outlaw torture because it works or not. We didn’t outlaw slavery because it doesn’t work. We didn’t outlaw robbery because it doesn’t work, but because it is wrong,” says Staberock.

As of today, 174 states have ratified the convention…but are they honouring it?

“There is pushback, it’s definitely on the rise I would say because torture is also on the rise. Torture is universally condemned but widely practised,” continues Edwards.

How should we mark the 40th anniversary?

“So much more has to be done to really eradicate torture. We have to recognise that it is still a problem, and we have to recognise it as a problem. For a torturer, for individuals, for society. A society that tortures is a sick society,” says Staberock.

Join host Imogen Foulkes on Inside Geneva.

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This month the United Nations (UN) will host the ‘Summit of the Future’ in New York. What's the point of this high-level event? Inside Geneva investigates.

“The UN is not an entity that does anything. I mean, we can all blame it, but what is the UN? It’s just the sum of its parts: the governments,” says Christiane Oelrich, journalist for the DPA German Press Agency.

Is the UN’s 1945 structure even fit for purpose?

“Historically the UN for many people is still associated with the West. And the question of including the global south still haunts the UN,” continues analyst Daniel Warner.

Does the UN have an answer to today’s brutal, intractable conflicts?

“Since World War Two there have been plenty of conflicts, but what we have seen in the last three or four or five years is the use of aggression and violence as an instrument of foreign policy. Yes, that’s right,” says Nick Cumming-Bruce, contributor for the New York Times.

Can more peaceful nations rescue the UN’s purpose?

“The fact that some countries follow the path of aggression doesn't mean that all the rest of the world has to talk about failure now,” adds Oelrich.

And is the summit a gamble for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres?

“We should tip a hat to Antonio Guterres for even trying to do this given all of the stuff that's going on,” says Imogen Foulkes, Inside Geneva presenter.

Join us on Inside Geneva to find out more about what we can expect from this summit. 

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The World Trade Organisation (WTO) Public Forum is underway in Geneva and its key theme is ‘re-globalisation’. Are we nervous of that word? Inside Geneva sat down with WTO officials to find out what it means.

“Trade has been a very powerful force for reducing between-country inequality. Since 1995, for example, since the foundation of the WTO, extreme poverty in the world has been reduced from 40% to 10%, because of growth in many countries that was also export-led,” says Ralph Ossa, WTO chief economist.

Many ordinary people think global trade makes them poorer. How can it benefit them?

“At the WTO, our members have gotten together and many of them have formed a working group on trade and gender to especially put the lens of women to trade policy and to see what more can be done so that they can take advantage of opportunities,” says Johanna Hill, WTO Deputy Director.

The WTO doesn’t tell countries how to run their industries, but it does hope they can learn from one another.

“Perhaps one member might say, ‘Well, you know, supporting women in my country has really been a tremendous success. Because now we see higher growth rates, lower poverty rates and so on. Why don't you give it a try yourself?’” says Ossa.

Can global trade help us face global challenges?

“Nobody questions the importance of regulating to protect the environment or to protect health - everybody agrees on that. It’s the how that might be the question,” says Hill.

Join host Imogen Foulkes for a trade special on Inside Geneva.

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Host: Imogen Foulkes
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