Inside Geneva (SWI swissinfo.ch)
Explorez tous les épisodes de Inside Geneva
| Date | Titre | Durée | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 08 Feb 2022 | Cyber-attacks: what are the risks for aid agencies? | 00:33:42 | |
In January the ICRC was hacked, compromising the data of half a million vulnerable people. But how vulnerable are aid agencies themselves to cyber-attacks? Podcast host Imogen Foulkes is joined in this episode by cybersecurity and humanitarian experts. “It’s an attack on people who are already living in the anxiety of being separated from their family members and their loved ones. It’s an attack on their dignity, it’s an attack on their privacy,” says Massimo Marelli, head of data protection at the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). The ICRC has had to take its Restoring Family Links website offline. Who would attack an aid agency, and why? “We have at least four attacks per week on healthcare. These attacks are high gain, low risk because there is a huge rate of impunity,” says Stéphane Duguin, CEO of the CyberPeace Institute. How can humanitarian agencies protect themselves? “The ICRC is not any humanitarian organisation, they are the guardians of the Geneva Conventions, so an attack on them is something special,” says analyst Daniel Warner. Get in touch!
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| 22 Feb 2022 | What does the Human Rights Council mean to victims of atrocities? | 00:41:10 | |
Podcast host Imogen Foulkes is joined in this episode by human rights defenders and investigators. Human rights advocates bring their testimonies of atrocities to the UN – often at great risk to themselves – because it often is their last and only hope. “I survived, I was able to finally leave the country, but if I hadn’t been able to do that, I would have ended up in jail, or tortured in prison,” says Khin Ohmar, a human rights defender from Myanmar. “The feeling is always there, that sense of risk. We’ve had journalists, trade union leaders, human rights defenders, currently in prison,” says Feliciano Reyna, a human rights advocate from Venezuela. “My only son was murdered by Dallas policemen, he was only 25 years old, he was unarmed, and shot seven times,” says Collette Flanagan, founder and CEO of Mothers Against Police Brutality. UN investigators collect evidence that national or international courts can use to convict rights offenders. They too, have to face disturbing situations. “I still know that the Myanmar butchers who are responsible for what happened may never individually be brought to justice,” says Chris Sidoti, an international human rights consultant. “Is this possible? How can human beings do such horrible things to other human beings,” says Ilaria Ciarla, a UN human rights officer on the Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar. “The idea that somebody has listened to your story, and you have taken your case to the United Nations is incredibly important,” says Andrew Clapham, a member of the UN Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan. Get in touch!
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| 08 Mar 2022 | War in Ukraine | 00:36:29 | |
Podcast host Imogen Foulkes is joined in this episode by international history and human rights experts. “If Russia tries to occupy all of Ukraine, that’s going to end up in a total disaster, and an ongoing civil conflict for years on end. If they divide the country, that’s just going to breed new conflict,” says Jussi Hanhimäki, professor of international history and politics at the Graduate Institute Geneva (IHEID). Can human rights be protected? “If this moves to some form of occupation, we will certainly see torture, disappearances, arbitrary arrests,” says Gerald Staberock, secretary general of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT). Can the United Nations do anything to help? “The Human Rights Council in Geneva will do an inquiry. The International Criminal Court will investigate alleged war crimes, so I think the UN is reacting the best it can,” says analyst Daniel Warner. Get in touch!
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| 22 Mar 2022 | What to expect from the UN Human Rights Office’s visit to China? | 00:34:08 | |
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights will visit China, but can she get an accurate picture of the situation? Podcast host Imogen Foulkes is joined in this episode by experts on China and human rights. Rights groups accuse Beijing of having interned over a million Uyghurs in so-called “re-education camps” in Xinjiang. “Michelle Bachelet will be the first UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to set foot in China in 17 years,” says Sophie Richardson, China director at NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW). Will it be safe for witnesses and victims of rights abuses to talk to her? “China has been cited by the Secretary General himself as engaging in a pattern of reprisals against those who engaged with the UN previously,” says Phil Lynch, director of NGO International Service for Human Rights (ISHR). Is there a risk of Michelle Bachelet’s visit being instrumentalised by Chinese authorities? “Given that we cannot expect her to carry out any serious investigation of the reality of human rights in China, what is it that she’s actually going for?” asks Nick Cumming-Bruce, a New York Times contributor in Geneva. Get in touch!
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| 05 Apr 2022 | How Ukraine affects other humanitarian crises | 00:28:32 | |
In a few short weeks, a quarter of Ukraine’s population has been displaced. The Inside Geneva podcast asks what this means for other refugee crises. Podcast host Imogen Foulkes is joined in this episode by humanitarian experts. Get in touch!
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| 19 Apr 2022 | Ukraine: can sanctions or war crimes investigations stop the war? | 00:36:06 | |
Evidence of atrocities in Ukraine has been met with accusations of war crimes and tougher sanctions against Russia. The Inside Geneva podcast looks at what this means. Podcast host Imogen Foulkes is joined in this episode by human rights and sanctions experts. “Putin has made Russia a pariah, we have to deal with that at this moment. There are no humanitarian or human rights laws being respected by the Russian government now,” says analyst Daniel Warner. Can sanctions deter Russia in Ukraine? “What is the objective? Is it punitive economic pain? How does that translate to some kind of political gain?” asks Erica Moret, senior researcher and sanctions specialist at the Graduate Institute in Geneva. And what might Russia’s future look like now? “Politically, socially, who knows what Russia will be like in a year, two years, or five years’ time,” says Hugh Williamson, Europe director of NGO Human Rights Watch. Get in touch!
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| 03 May 2022 | Press freedom: more important than ever? | 00:34:45 | |
May 3rd is Press Freedom Day, but around the world, journalists are being harassed, oppressed, even attacked. This Inside Geneve podcast looks how at what more can be done to better journalists. Podcast host Imogen Foulkes is joined in this by episode by journalists and NGOs that defend press freedom. “We need to work on ending the culture of impunity that governments seem to enjoy when it comes to targeting and harassing journalists,” says Clayton Weimers, Reporters without Borders USA. What are the threats journalists have to face? “Journalism under digital siege. Surveillance, harassment, particularly against women journalists,” says Guilherme Canela, Freedom of Expression and Safety of Journalists, UNESCO. And which journalists are most affected ? “Media has been undermined within so-called liberal democracies. Let’s not forget that almost as many journalists have been killed in Mexico this year as in Ukraine,” says Nick Cumming-Bruce, New York Times contributor based in Geneva. How can journalists protect their profession, and themselves? Join host Imogen Foulkes on Inside Geneva. For more insights and discussions from Switzerland’s international city, subscribe to ‘Inside Geneva’ on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. And subscribe to our newsletter to get all the International Geneva news and views from Imogen Foulkes in your inbox. Get in touch!
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| 17 May 2022 | World Health Assembly: lessons learned from the pandemic? | 00:34:53 | |
Podcast host Imogen Foulkes is joined in this episode by global health experts. “We should look at why zoonotic events happen, and maybe start banning wildlife trading. A new pandemic treaty should address the way we grow food and breed animals,” says Nicoletta Dentico, head of the global health programme at the Society for International Development (SID). Zoonotic diseases involve germs spreading between animals and humans. How can we prevent another devastating pandemic? How do we make sure vaccines and treatments are shared fairly? “That the TRIPS waiver discussion on vaccines is still ongoing, I personally consider as a mix of mind-boggling and insane,” says Thomas Cueni, director general of the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations (IFPMA). There are lots of opinions, but little agreement. “Charity is not going to be good enough, calls for solidarity are not going to be good enough. Calls to listen to science and do the right thing are not going to be good enough. We must have many more binding rules that governments really follow because they think it’s in their own best interests to do it,” says Suerie Moon, co-director of the Global Health Centre (GHC) at the Geneva Graduate Institute. Get in touch!
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| 31 May 2022 | Neutrality, NATO and the new world order | 00:33:48 | |
This week on Inside Geneva host Imogen Foulkes discusses NATO, neutrality, and the new world order. Sara Hellmüller, Geneva Graduate Institute: "The law of neutrality is very clear, so the law of neutrality applies to the military domain and says that a country is not allowed to participate in an armed conflict either directly or indirectly." Neutral Finland and Sweden want to join NATO. What does that mean for their neutral status? Daniel Warner, analyst: "Neutrality changes over time, it’s not written in stone. Not only does it have legal and political but it also has moral implications." And does strict neutrality have any benefits at all? Jean-Marc Rickli, Geneva Centre for Security Policy: "There will come a time when negotiations will have to take place, and neutral states are very well positioned to basically offer mediation possibility to rebuild bridges." Get in touch!
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| 14 Jun 2022 | Refugee policy: the good, the bad and the ugly | 00:32:29 | |
Europe has shown a big welcome to refugees from Ukraine. The Inside Geneva podcast asks whether this generosity will be extended to others. Podcast host Imogen Foulkes is joined in this episode by refugee policy experts. “The Ukraine crisis has really humanised the refugee issue, people have been able to see women, children, men in extremely difficult circumstances,” says Jeff Crisp, an expert on refugee policy with the University of Oxford’s Refugee Studies Centre. “As someone who understands the horrors of war very well, I was so happy to see countries in Europe opening their borders to Ukrainian refugees. But the question is: what was happening before that?” asks refugee and activist Nhial Deng. According to the UN, 100 million people worldwide are currently forcibly displaced. Are we really honouring the 1951 Refugee Convention, which outlines the rights of refugees and the obligations of states to protect them? “We do need to continue education and commitment to these principles, because we never know when they’re going to be needed,” says Gillian Triggs, Assistant High Commissioner for Protection at the UN Refugee Agency. Get in touch!
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| 28 Jun 2022 | Drought and food insecurity | 00:32:57 | |
Millions of people are going hungry due to severe droughts in the Sahel and in East Africa. The Inside Geneva podcast looks at how the international community should help, now and in the future. Podcast host Imogen Foulkes is joined in this episode by climate and humanitarian experts. “Two boys, twins, they’re one year old. They’re severely malnourished, the children and the mother. And she walked 160 kilometres to reach an area where there is some food distribution,” says Rania Dagash, deputy regional director for Eastern and Southern Africa at UNICEF. Four consecutive rainy seasons have failed in the Horn of Africa. Climate experts say the next one could fail too. “We have observed decreases in rainfall over the last few years. We see a decreasing amount of rainfall from 2 to 7% per decade,” says Bob Stefanski, chief of the Agricultural Meteorology Division at the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). The war in Ukraine has disrupted supply chains and sent the prices of food commodities up. Millions on the African continent, which relies heavily on imports, are on the brink of famine. “Could we imagine countries and regions actually fighting over access to water as water becomes more and more precious?” asks analyst Daniel Warner. Get in touch!
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| 12 Jul 2022 | What does it take to lead the UN human rights office? | 00:26:17 | |
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet will leave office at the end of August. The hunt is on for the world’s new human rights leader. Podcast host Imogen Foulkes asks former United Nations human rights chief Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein what it is like to do the job. “Most of my time I was writing to governments, talking to them, calling them, but I had no hesitation of going public when I felt we needed to go public,” says Zeid. “Navi Pillay (former high commissioner) said the worst mistake you can make is to privilege any country. Don’t privilege any particular group or country,” he recalls. Get in touch!
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| 26 Jul 2022 | What do rights groups want from the UN? | 00:32:17 | |
By the end of this month, the UN will have a new human rights chief. It’s sometimes called the UN’s toughest job. Inside Geneva host Imogen Foulkes talks exclusively to the leaders of the world’s top human rights groups, and asks them how they see the job. Get in touch!
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| 09 Aug 2022 | Women, peace and security | 00:36:21 | |
From war to food insecurity and climate change; would the world be a better, safer place if women took more decisions? Inside Geneva podcast host Imogen Foulkes is joined in this episode by women peace and security experts. “Participation of women in peace and security, obviously must go beyond an ‘add-women-and-stir’ approach,” says Julia Hofstetter, president of Women in International Security, Switzerland. How well are women represented in security discussions? “Thirty per cent of the delegates negotiating arms control and disarmament are women, so 70% are men,” says Renata H. Dalaqua, head of the Gender and Disarmament Programme of the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research. Is increasing numbers enough? “The world needs not only participation of women but also the feminist analysis on peace,” says Maria Butler, executive director of the Nobel Women’s Initiative. Get in touch!
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| 23 Aug 2022 | Syria: the forgotten crisis | 00:36:12 | |
While the spotlight is on Ukraine, the UN says humanitarian needs in Syria are greater than ever. Podcast host Imogen Foulkes is joined in this episode by humanitarian experts. “The World Food Programme had to reduce by 13% their food rations because of funding,” says Sanjana Quazi, head of office at the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Turkey. The UN budget for Syria is underfunded and further devalued by rising food and fuel prices. “What we’re seeing is a trend towards negative coping mechanisms. Early marriage, child labour, and what’s really alarming is increased attempted suicide rates,” says Tanya Evans, country director at the International Rescue Committee (IRC) in Syria. Has the world forgotten about Syria? “If I read the English newspapers, it’s all about Ukraine. How can we put what’s happening in Syria back on the radar?” asks analyst Daniel Warner. Get in touch!
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| 06 Sep 2022 | Day of the Disappeared | 00:32:29 | |
For more than 150 years the ICRC has been re-uniting those separated by war and natural disaster. Inside Geneva visits the Central Tracing Agency. Get in touch!
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| 20 Sep 2022 | What is the ITU and why does it matter? | 00:28:52 | |
In this episode, host Imogen Foulkes explores the most important UN agency most of us have never heard of. Get in touch!
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| 04 Oct 2022 | Defending human rights in Russia | 00:30:04 | |
Russia is diplomatically isolated. In this podcast episode, host Imogen Foulkes asks: what about Russian human rights defenders? “Right now, in Russia there are few means left to defend human rights, and to address human rights violations. It’s really hard,” says Violetta Fitsner, a Russian human rights defender. In Geneva, Russia has been expelled from the UN Human Rights Council (HRC). “Excluding Russia from various organisations: Council of Europe, Human Rights Council. Are you isolating them from all concepts like universal human rights?” asks analyst Daniel Warner. There are now moves at the HRC to appoint a UN special rapporteur on Russia. “We want to ensure that the Russian human rights community feels part of the universal human rights movement,” says Gerald Staberock, secretary general of the World Organisation Against Torture. Get in touch!
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| 18 Oct 2022 | Helping Ukraine: lessons and challenges | 00:44:59 | |
In this podcast episode, host Imogen Foulkes together with Swiss Solidarity ask: what are the challenges of delivering aid to Ukraine? “In the early days, it just looked like, five or six days, and Ukraine will be taken,” says Zuzana Brezinova, Ukraine country director at Swiss Church Aid HEKS. How do neutral, impartial humanitarian organisations really work in a war zone? “Because we’re a neutral organisation we cannot sign memorandums of understanding with military organisations,” says Damon Elsworth, senior global emergency response team officer at Medair. What happens to the millions of Swiss francs donated, especially when donors expect quick results? “People who have been donating, they call our office, they want to know what happened,” says Tasha Rumley, head of humanitarian aid at Swiss Solidarity. And after that first rush of solidarity, is the support really there for the long haul? “As we all know I think, this conflict will not be over by the end of the year,” says Andrea Schmid, emergency aid expert at the Swiss Red Cross. Get in touch!
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| 01 Nov 2022 | COP27, climate change and health | 00:32:20 | |
The United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27) is due to start this Sunday in Egypt. Evidence shows too little is done against climate change. What does this mean for our health? In this podcast episode, host Imogen Foulkes is joined by health and climate experts. “A 1 degree or 0.5 degree [Celsius] increase has an exponential direct impact on the number of cases of cholera or the number of people dying from heatwaves,” says Ninni Ikkala Nyman of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC). “Climate change is bad for our health. This is not some distant future threat that’s going to happen to poor people, or farmers, or only in developing countries, or that’s only an economic issue,” says Lachlan McIver of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). How committed are we to net-zero climate objectives? “I was looking at the immediate energy crisis, and some of the countries are solving the problem of having less oil and gas from Russia, by starting using coal again,” says analyst Daniel Warner. The COP27 climate conference is taking place in the Egyptian resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh from November 6-18. Get in touch!
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| 15 Nov 2022 | Q&A on migration, asylum and refugees | 00:39:11 | |
This week on the Inside Geneva podcast, we answer questions from our listeners about migrants, asylum seekers, and refugees. Get in touch!
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| 29 Nov 2022 | What is the nuclear threat? | 00:35:42 | |
Nuclear weapons have only been used twice. Now Russia has hinted they could be used again. In this podcast episode, Inside Geneva host Imogen Foulkes asks experts how big the threat is. Get in touch!
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| 13 Dec 2022 | UN correspondents look back | 00:31:50 | |
2022 has been a momentous year: the war in Ukraine, unprecedented droughts and floods, new disease outbreaks. This week on the Inside Geneva podcast, journalists reflect on the past year. Get in touch!
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| 27 Dec 2022 | Aid agencies reflect on 2022 | 00:35:49 | |
The year has seen huge humanitarian challenges: war in Ukraine, looming famine in Somalia, protracted crises in Afghanistan, Yemen, and Syria. This week on the Inside Geneva podcast, aid agencies reflect on the year. Get in touch!
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| 10 Jan 2023 | Afghanistan: aid without women | 00:26:46 | |
The Taliban have banned women from working for aid agencies. This week on the Inside Geneva podcast, host Imogen Foulkes asks humanitarians what this means for Afghanistan’s future. Get in touch!
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| 24 Jan 2023 | Cyber Wars | 00:29:52 | |
The war in Ukraine is almost a year old. Inside Geneva asks what role cyberwarfare has played. Get in touch!
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| 07 Feb 2023 | Challenges for the new UN Human Rights chief | 00:25:27 | |
This week on the Inside Geneva podcast, host Imogen Foulkes has an in-depth conversation with Volker Türk, the new UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. Get in touch!
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| 14 Feb 2023 | Earthquakes, aid and politics | 00:30:35 | |
After two devastating earthquakes hit Turkey and Syria, Inside Geneva podcast host Imogen Foulkes looks at the challenges aid agencies face when compassion and humanity run up against the obstacles of geopolitics. Get in touch!
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| 23 Feb 2023 | How to make peace? The first anniversary of war in Ukraine. | 00:44:19 | |
One year on from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Inside Geneva podcast host Imogen Foulkes is joined by conflict resolution experts to discuss what the prospects for peace are, and how it can be won. Get in touch!
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| 07 Mar 2023 | How to hold China to account | 00:27:30 | |
The UN Human Rights Council is set to discuss Ukraine, Ethiopia, Iran, and more. Inside Geneva podcast host Imogen Foulkes asks: what about China? Get in touch!
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| 21 Mar 2023 | Books to make you think | 00:42:28 | |
This week Inside Geneva podcast host Imogen Foulkes talks to authors who have written about humanitarian topics. Get in touch!
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| 04 Apr 2023 | Aid Access Dilemmas | 00:31:40 | |
In this episode of Inside Geneva we take a long hard look at how aid is delivered, and why it is often obstructed. Did UN aid agencies fail Syria after the earthquake? Marco Sassoli from Geneva University speaking to Inside Geneva says: "The UN being a club it represents its members, and therefore it considers that it cannot do anything on the territory of a member state without the consent of the member state." But are there ways to get aid in immediately? Jan Egeland of the Norwegian Refugee Council says he is "a fundamentalist on the need to go straight to the victims, the people in need cross border cross line, cross mountain, cross desert, the shortest route." But with armed groups on the ground, how do aid workers persuade them to let them in? Thaer Allaw, from the Center for Competence on Humanitarian Negotiation explains this difficulty: "We think that we have a good cause, and we think that those humanitarian principles are universal. And then when you hit the reality they are not." Get in touch!
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| 18 Apr 2023 | Ukraine, war crimes and Putin | 00:38:04 | |
Russian President Vladimir Putin has been indicted for war crimes. This week, Inside Geneva podcast host Imogen Foulkes asks whether international law can really bring justice. Get in touch!
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| 02 May 2023 | ICRC reunites families, Swiss neutrality and weapons exports | 00:39:59 | |
This week, Inside Geneva goes behind the scenes with the ICRC’s prisoner exchange in Yemen. Fabrizio Carboni, ICRC: "I look at my kids, I look at my family, and I say ‘imagine now there is a frontline between us, and my son, my brother, my mother, my father are captured and I can't see them for a year, or two, three, four". Can the move help bring peace to Yemen? Daniel Warner, analyst: "Confidence building is the most important thing in all negotiations, and in any kind of situation, such as prisoner exchange, but in any development of finding peace". And we look at Switzerland’s tricky position over Ukraine, neutrality, and the arms trade. Keith Krause, Geneva Graduate Institute: "German officials have expressed their dismay that Switzerland would not allow re-export of munitions that Germany had bought several years ago, so Switzerland finds itself in a very delicate position". Daniel Warner, analyst: "A Russian diplomat said that Switzerland is no longer considered a neutral country. When you think of the summits: Reagan Gorbachev, Biden Putin, it's difficult to imagine in the future Geneva or Switzerland will be a centre for negotiations". Get in touch!
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| 15 May 2023 | Sudan’s tragedy | 00:29:42 | |
The Sudan conflict began over a month ago, and the consequences for the population are getting more and more serious. Get in touch!
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| 30 May 2023 | What became of the pandemic treaty? | 00:36:58 | |
Inside Geneva was at the World Health Assembly over the last week, finding out what lessons are being learned from Covid-19 now that the WHO says the global health emergency is over – even if the pandemic isn’t. Suerie Moon, co-director, Global Health Centre, Geneva Graduate Institute said: "Every single country is vulnerable to pandemics. Every single country can have its economy, its society fundamentally undermined by a pandemic. We know this." Member states are supposed to be working on a pandemic treaty – so we cope with the next one better. Fair access to medicines is a key issue. Barbara Stocking, chair of panel for a global public health convention added: "On medicines and so on, I think this is the most difficult issue to be handling. I hope most countries are signed up to the view that there should be equity. I don’t think the developing countries will sign up to any treaty, when they don’t see that there are plans to get much nearer to equity." Can medicine producers be persuaded to be generous? Thomas Cueni, Director General, International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers (IFPMA) said: "You cannot coerce know-how sharing, because either you’re willing to share your wisdom with me or you’re not. IP waivers, which means ignoring patents, would actually be a huge barrier." Transparency and rapid information sharing are on the agenda too: Imogen Foulkes, Inside Geneva host asked: "We still don’t know exactly how and where and from what Covid-19 came. Will we find that out do you think? Is investigation still going on?" Maria van Kerkhove, World Health Organisation concluded: "We’re certainly going to do everything we can to figure out how this pandemic began. And it does depend on collaboration, scientific collaboration, collaboration from member states, sharing of information, sharing data, and we need more collaboration from China, we’ve been very vocal about that.’ Listen and subscribe to the podcast to find out more. Get in touch!
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| 13 Jun 2023 | Universal human rights at 75: who defends them? | 00:23:04 | |
This week Inside Geneva starts a new series marking the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Born out of the terrible cruelty of World War II, millions hoped the declaration would prevent atrocities. "This Universal Declaration of human rights may well become the international Magna Carta of all men everywhere," said Eleanor Roosevelt. But there was no UN human rights chief until the cold war ended in the 1990s. José Ayala Lasso, first UN human rights commissioner says: "Yes, it is an impossible mission to try to guarantee the effectiveness of all human rights: social economic and political cultural, even the right to development of the whole people of the world." UN member states still differ on what the universal declaration even means. José Ayala Lasso continues: "If you see human rights through the lens of communism, probably you see them in a different manner when you see them through the eyes of democratic governments. I do not think that we should be permissive in order to accept violations. But we should try to understand the reasons of the other: why the regime, the totalitarian regimes act in a way. Why?" But some principles are non-negotiable. "The basic principle is the human being. Human beings are to be respected, they are equal in dignity and in rights as the declaration says in the first article. We should believe, we should not lose our faith in the capacity of human beings to act correctly," concludes José Ayala Lasso. Get in touch!
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| 27 Jun 2023 | What now for women in Afghanistan? | 00:36:20 | |
On Inside Geneva this week, host Imogen Foulkes asks if the United Nations (UN) should still work in Afghanistan, now the Taliban are banning women from work, and girls from secondary school? Karima Bennoune, professor of International Law: ‘Anyone who believed in something called Taliban 2.0, had never actually spoken to an Afghan woman human rights defender. Because the Afghan women human rights defenders, they knew what was going to happen. They did their best without a loud microphone to tell governments, to tell international organisations, what was going to happen.’ Is the UN becoming complicit in what some call gender apartheid? Fiona Frazer, UN human rights, Kabul: Despite the fact that it does seem, every month, or three months or so on a new decree comes out that pushes women further back into their homes, we have to keep being here. That's what women and girls tell us: they want us to be here. They feel the need to have the UN be here, to be present, and to keep going back. It’s now almost two years since the Taliban seized power again. What do Afghan women think? Fereshta Abbasi, Human Rights Watch: If there is a resistance in Afghanistan, it’s definitely coming from the women of Afghanistan. That 12-year-old girl who's still attending an underground school in Helmand is the resistance of Afghanistan. The Taliban will never be able to erase their minds and erase the knowledge that they have already gained.
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| 11 Jul 2023 | Human rights and those who defend them: Mary Robinson | 00:30:31 | |
On Inside Geneva this week: part two of our series marking the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Imogen Foulkes talks to Mary Robinson, the second person to serve as UN Human Rights Commissioner. Even as a schoolgirl in Ireland, she was already passionate about human rights. ‘I was a bit of a bookworm, and I found a book with a photograph of Eleanor Roosevelt holding the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. That iconic photo.’ She became a campaigning lawyer, and then Ireland’s first female president, but still wanted to do more. ‘There was this office of High Commissioner which I was aware of. In fact, I'd seen some of its work in Rwanda, which had been very difficult work. All my knowledgeable friends said ‘you know Mary I wouldn't take that job’.’ Her time as Human Rights Commissioner was challenging. ‘I remember feeling to myself, I'm going to get on top of this somehow. This job is impossible, everything is very very difficult, it's extremely hard work but somehow I’m going to get on top of it. And it got better.’ ‘Some governments were critical…’ ‘Over and over again, I kept saying to myself ‘I represent the first three words of the charter of the United Nations: we the peoples. That's what I represent. Not the states.’ Today, her commitment is undimmed.. ‘Human rights is the answer. We need to understand that everyone has these core human rights, that all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. That this is who we are.’ Get in touch!
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| 25 Jul 2023 | Governing artificial intelligence: Ethics, Risks and Possibilities | 00:46:03 | |
On Inside Geneva this week we take a deep dive into the pros and cons of artificial intelligence. Should the United Nations (UN) help to regulate it? Could it even do that? Across the UN there are different views. Tomas Lamanauskas, deputy secretary general of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) says that "the technology in itself has a huge potential to help us resolve a lot of challenges of today, from climate change, to helping education to, helping in the health sector. It’s just that the question is that as with every technology, this technology has risks." "There are real problems with its ability to accelerate disinformation, and enhance bias. We also have to look at those longer term consequences, in areas like lethal weapons and things where there really are real important, almost existential risks to some of these technologies," adds Peggy Hicks from the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR). But what about the tech industry? Lila Ibrahim, chief operation officer at Google DeepMind says that "from the very start of DeepMind, since 2010, we've been working on AI and thinking about how do we build this responsibly? It's not something we just tag on at the end of all the research we've been doing." Is goodwill from the tech giants enough? "The malicious use of AI systems for terrorists, criminal, or state purposes could cause horrific levels of death and destruction, widespread trauma, and deep psychological damage on an unimaginable scale," concludes Antonio Guterres, UN Secretary-General. Join host Imogen Foulkes on Inside Geneva Join host Imogen Foulkes for a new episode of the Inside Geneva podcast and gear up for a journey into the world of AI to discover how we can responsibly leverage its power for a better tomorrow. Get in touch!
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| 08 Aug 2023 | Championing Human Rights: The Story of Louise Arbor | 00:33:10 | |
On Inside Geneva this week: part three of our series marking the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Host Imogen Foulkes talks to Louise Arbour, who served as UN Human Rights Commissioner from 2004 to 2008. She arrived in Geneva with a formidable track record. As a prosecutor for the former Yugoslavia, she had indicted Slobodan Milosevic for war crimes. In Rwanda, she secured convictions of rape as crimes against humanity. "The work I did both with the tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and for Rwanda were if anything a vindication for me of the significance of law, of the rule of law, as an organising principle in modern society," explains Arbour. Leading the UN’s human rights work was a new challenge. "These were very challenging times. 2004, you know, this was in the backyard of 9/11. It was, a new, dangerous, unknown world was starting to unfold with a lot of uncertainties, including on the human rights front." New strategies were needed. "When you arrive in the role of high commissioner for human rights, I think that’s part of the dilemma; how do you use your voice? Because I think to be the megaphone for the denunciation of injustices at some point becomes counterproductive, because it just illuminates how impotent the system is. It’s like you scream in the wilderness," she said. That’s why this dedicated lawyer still tells us to follow the laws, treaties, and conventions we have. "If you came from another planet and you just looked at the human rights framework; the universal declaration of human rights, all the treaties, the conventions, the work of the treaty bodies, you’d think you’d arrived in heaven. So why is it not the case?" Join Imogen Foulkes on Inside Geneva podcast to find out more. Get in touch!
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| 22 Aug 2023 | Humanitarian Heroes: Personal Tales of Tragedy, Triumph and the Search for the Missing | 00:35:58 | |
August marks two important days in the humanitarian calendar First, the International day of the disappeared. Fabrizio Carboni, ICRC: ‘I look at my kids, I look at my family, and I say ‘imagine now there is a frontline between us and my son, my brother, my mother, my father, are captured and I can't see them for a year, two, three, four.’’ Inside Geneva hears how the ICRC reunites those divided by conflict, and visits the Red Cross Central Tracing Agency. Anastasia Kushleyko, Central Tracing Agency: ‘I’m calling from the ICRC, I’m calling from Geneva: As of last week he was a POW, he was safe and well. It's always always people are so grateful and mothers, you know especially mothers.’ Second, the UN marks World Humanitarian Day on August 30. 20 years after the Baghdad bombing which killed 22 UN staff, Inside Geneva talks to an aid worker deeply affected by that day. Laura Dolci, UN Human Rights: ‘So I had taken him to the airport, together with our child, and the yes it took me in fact many years to be able to use the same elevator in the airport where I last kissed him.’ Laura Dolci, UN Human Rights: ‘The aid worker, the humanitarian worker, the peacekeeper; ultimately it's a human being that decides to put its own being also to the service of humanity.’ Join host Imogen Foulkes on Inside Geneva
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| 05 Sep 2023 | From Apartheid to the UN: Navi Pillay's experience as Human Rights Commissioner | 00:29:48 | |
On Inside Geneva this week: part four of our series marking the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Imogen Foulkes talks to Navi Pillay, she served as UN Human Rights Commissioner from 2008 to 2014, she started life in racially segregated South Africa. "We grew up under apartheid and we’re realised there’s something very unfair here. Our teachers were afraid to talk about…you know they would teach us democracy in Greece, but not why don’t we have democracy in South Africa." She became the first woman of colour to have her own legal practice in South Africa. "It was so lonely, and so scary. I had very little choice, because I went looking for jobs after I’d qualified, at law firms, they were mainly white law firms, and they would say ‘we can’t – you’re a black person, so we can’t have our white secretaries taking instructions from you.’’ She served on the international tribunal for the Rwandan genocide – but hesitated when Ban Ki Moon asked her to become UN Human Rights Commissioner. "You have to respond to a call that’s made to you, a trust that people place in you. So if you ask me what moved me from where I wanted to go to this, it was the secretary general saying ‘we need you now’.’ Today, she believes the universal declaration on human rights is as relevant as ever – as long as we use it. "No state has distanced itself from that treaty. So I see hope in that and I feel these are the tools that civil society has. You have the law, now push for implementation." For more insights and discussions from Switzerland's international city, subscribe to Inside Geneva wherever you get your podcasts. Get in touch!
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| 19 Sep 2023 | Inside Geneva's 100th episode: the war in Syria, killer robots and justice in Myanmar | 00:36:41 | |
Inside Geneva is marking its 100th podcast episode this week. In this episode host Imogen Foulkes looks back at some of the podcast highlights. This episode starts with an assessment of how humanitarians coped with the war in Syria. Jan Egeland, former head of the United Nations humanitarian taskforce for Syria says: "Syria was a real setback where these besiegements, the bombing of hospitals, the bombing of schools, the bombing of bread lines, it was horrific." "If we were to think of aid as a form of reparation, as a form of social justice for historical and continuing harm," says Lata Narayanaswamy, from the University of Leeds. And it delves into the complex discussions over ‘killer robots’. Mary Wareham, from the Human Rights Watch adds: "Do you hold the commander responsible who activated the weapons system? There's what we call an accountability gap when it comes to killer robots." And we ask whether human rights investigations can really bring accountability. Chris Sidoti, from the UN Independent Fact Finding Mission on Myanmar, told Imogen Foulkes: "I still know that the Myanmar butchers who are responsible for what happened may never individually be brought to justice. But I certainly live in hope that one day they will." Get in touch!
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| 03 Oct 2023 | The journey of Zeid Ra’ad al Hussein: the sixth UN Human Rights Commissioner | 00:28:04 | |
On Inside Geneva this week: part five of our series marking the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. "No, I was far too immature and delinquent to be thinking lofty ideas and profound thoughts," he said. But two years in the former Yugoslavia during the conflict there focused his mind. "The senselessness of it all, there’s nothing that can justify killing, or destruction like that. Nothing at all," he thinks. When he took the job as UN human rights commissioner, he became famous for his tough approach. "I knew from my experience in the former Yugoslavia, that if the UN secretariat believed, I think mistakenly, that it’s in the friends business, it produces catastrophic results. The UN is not there to become friendly with the member states." He spoke out wherever he saw injustice or abuse, from Myanmar, to Libya, or ISIS, and even world leaders. "Someone asked me, possibly you, asked me about Donald Trump, and I said ‘yes, I think he’s dangerous.' And that became the headline out of the press conference," he said. Today, his commitment to universal human rights remains firm. "What we’re aiming at is to create a better human being. That’s what we’re trying to do with the human rights agenda, to improve ourselves and our conduct. To speak out and use non-violent means to protest conditions which are fundamentally unjust and unfair, and who can argue with that?"
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| 17 Oct 2023 | The future of human rights in Russia | 00:30:28 | |
It’s more than a year and a half since Russia invaded Ukraine. The war shows no sign of ending, and Moscow is cracking down on all opposition. "Since the full scale invasion of Ukraine had been launched in February of last year, the regime has brought back the entire arsenal of Soviet style repressive techniques, used to eradicate all dissent within the country, and scare people into silence," says Evgenia Kara-Murza, Russian human rights defender. Supporting dissent in Russia is important for all of us. Host Imogen Foulkes also talkes to Mariana Katzarova, UN special rapporteur for Russia. She said: "I do care what kind of Russia will be there next to our borders of Europe and of Eastern Europe. Whether it will be a black hole where people will be disappearing, being tortured. being arbitrarily detained." "I have a message for the international community: please see us as your partners. We want a different Russia, a Russia based on the rule of law and respect for human rights. That is our goal," concludes Evgenia Kara-Murza. But how far away is that goal? How long will it take to reach it? Louis Charbonneau, United Nations director at Human Rights Watch says: "It takes a lot of effort to suppress the truth, to destroy and muzzle every possible critic, and to circulate absurd propaganda the way the Russian government does. It takes a lot of energy. Time is against the oppressors like Vladimir Putin, like Xi Jinping, and others. They will not last, but that doesn't mean that we're not in store for a rough ride." Get in touch!
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| 24 Oct 2023 | How the Israeli-Palestinian war challenges humanitarian aid | 00:30:48 | |
The current conflict in the Middle East is the most violent in decades. An Inside Geneva special asks what the rules of law allow, and what they forbid. Marco Sassòli, Professor of International Law at the University of Geneva, says: “the massacre Hamas committed among those festival visitors are clear violations of international humanitarian law. [...] The entire northern Gaza Strip is not a military objective. So, an attack is a specific act of violence against one target, and the entire northern Gaza Strip is not possibly a target.” What are the challenges for aid workers? “We need to ensure safety of civilians and safety of health workers, humanitarian workers on the ground. Our colleagues from the Palestine Red Crescent were telling us, yes we have no food, yes we have no water, yes we have none of these. But we don’t even know if we’ll be alive tomorrow,” says Benoit Carpentier from the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. Can anything prevent a humanitarian disaster in Gaza? “We’ve heard about 20 or 30 trucks only being allowed in, which obviously for a population of 2 million people is a drop in the ocean,” says Carpentier. Do we expect too much of humanitarian law? “We shouldn’t misunderstand humanitarian law, for instance humanitarian law does not prohibit Hamas to attack Israel, and does not prohibit Israel to attack Hamas fighters, military objectives and so on in the Gaza Strip, and other cities. And humanitarian law was never meant as saying wars are wonderful. No, wars are terrible, but they are much less terrible if the parties make an effort to comply with humanitarian law,” concludes Sassòli. Join host Imogen Foulkes on the Inside Geneva podcast. Get in touch!
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| 31 Oct 2023 | Michelle Bachelet's personal fight for human rights | 00:25:43 | |
On Inside Geneva this week: part six of our series marking the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Imogen Foulkes talks to Michelle Bachelet, who served as UN Human Rights Commissioner from 2018 to 2022. She was a young woman during Chile’s military dictatorship, and experienced human rights violations first hand. “You needed to be as strong as possible, and not to fail and not to... how could I say confess things that could harm other people.” When democracy returned to Chile, Bachelet served as her country’s president twice. Valuable experience, she believes, for later, persuading world leaders to respect human rights. “I could put myself in the shoes of that person who was making those decisions, and tried to think which could be the arguments that would convince them to respect human rights. That it's not only the right thing to do but also the smart thing.” She came under huge pressure for a much delayed but hard-hitting report on human rights in China. “I used to tell them look if you ask me not to publish this then tomorrow, another big country will call me and say don’t publish this. And then another big country will come so then the only thing I can do is to go back home. Because I have to do my job. So there was lots of pressure, lots of criticism.” Now, she feels the world has failed civilians in Gaza. “You have people there that need a humanitarian corridor, so they can get food, medicines, water, electricity and I feel that the international community has been slow to respond. Slow and weak.” And what about the Universal Declaration at 75? “The Universal Declaration is still valid. Because it gives sort of a minimal, I would say, standard of how we can live together.” Get in touch!
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| 14 Nov 2023 | The UN, Peace Week and the Middle East | 00:40:15 | |
Geneva recently hosted the Peace Week annual forum. Inside Geneva asks what’s the point, especially when there seems to be so much conflict still going on. “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,” says Zeid Ra’ad al Hussein, former United Nations Human Rights Commissioner. The UN is supposed to be able to prevent, and end conflict. How is it doing? Richard Gowan, UN director at the International Crisis Group: “I think the UN high command on the one hand, and the Israelis on the other hand, have just decided that in rhetorical terms their relationship cannot be saved. And they are laying into each other in very firm language.” What about individual governments, including Switzerland’s? “Now is simply not the time to be further suffocating the human rights community in Israel and Palestine. The presence of armed conflict makes human rights defenders work more, not less, important. This is the exact wrong moment to stop supporting civil society,” says Erin Kilbride, a researcherat Human Rights Watch. Are politics getting in the way of humanity? “There are two problems here: the first is the difference between humanitarian and political. And in a situation of war, which we’re in now, it’s very difficult to make that distinction,” adds Daniel Warner, a political analyst. Join host Imogen Foulkes on the Inside Geneva podcast to listen to the full interviews. Get in touch!
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| 28 Nov 2023 | Baptism of fire for UN's new human rights chief | 00:24:44 | |
This week Inside Geneva sits down for the last in our series of exclusive interviews with UN human rights commissioners. Volker Türk has a copy of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that he was given at school more than 40 years ago. Growing up in his native Austria, he focused his mind on human rights. "In light of the history of my own country, Holocaust, its own atrocities committed by Austrians during the Second World War, it was very formative for me to actually really say OK what has to happen in this world so that we come to this never again attitude," he told host Imogen Foulkes. Today, there are 55 conflicts worldwide – not the best atmosphere to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the universal declaration. But Volker Türk has a compelling analogy of why it is still important. "We actually have traffic regulations, and they exist because otherwise people would get killed. That's the same on the human rights front, and that's why the Universal Declaration of human rights is so important. Yes there are people who are violating traffic regulations, as there are people who violate human rights law, sometimes egregiously, as we see now. It doesn't mean that this takes away the fundamental centrality of the norms." He also believes that if warring parties could really see the suffering they cause each other, peace might be easier to achieve. "I was at the border to Gaza in Rafah, on north Sinai. I met Palestinian children, who had injuries that I have rarely seen in my life. Spine injuries, some of them couldn't even talk, because they were in such deep trauma and shock. I also met families of hostages, Israeli hostages and I saw their pain, and I can see that there is immense suffering out there and that suffering is created from humans to humans." Is there anything to celebrate on this 75th anniversary? Perhaps not, but we can learn. "We cannot afford just to stay in the present. We need to learn from our crisis today to make it better in the future, and I hope that if there's one single message that comes across: that the centrality of human rights has to be much more pronounced than ever before." Join host Imogen Foulkes on the Inside Geneva to listen to the full episode. Get in touch!
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| 12 Dec 2023 | Beyond declarations: UN voices reflect on 75 years of human rights advocacy | 00:42:12 | |
The world is marking an important anniversary: the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Get in touch!
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| 26 Dec 2023 | Narratives from the frontlines of human suffering | 00:37:02 | |
In the last Inside Geneva of 2023, UN correspondents look back at the year..and what a year it’s been.
Aid agencies have struggled to cope. Imogen Foulkes, host, Inside Geneva: ‘You feel like they’re being squeezed and squeezed and squeezed between the warring parties, and the Security Council which will just never agree.’ And now, war, again, in the middle east. Dorian Burkhalter, Swissinfo: ‘The UN has never lost that many humanitarian workers, and just seeing their helplessness you can really tell that they’ve lost their protection, and they’re totally desperate.’ Emma Farge: ‘It’s been personal for everyone, and it;s been difficult for journalists to navigate this information war and to really navigate it with your composure.’ What will 2024 bring? Nick Cumming-Bruce: ‘We still have potentially months of conflict, and we then have the whole issue of post conflict. Well, 2024 is really going to be where we see where the rubber hits the road on that one.’ Get in touch!
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| 09 Jan 2024 | Israel, Gaza and the challenge to humanitarianism | 00:31:16 | |
The bitter conflict in Gaza has polarised opinions. Aid agencies are caught in the middle. Fabrizio Carboni, Regional Director of the Near and Middle East division of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC): “People tend to believe we can do things that actually we can’t. I mean we have no army, we have no weapons.” Some say the ICRC hasn’t done enough to help Israeli hostages. “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,” says Carboni. James Elder, a spokesperson for UNICEF said: “The level of bombardments, and the deprivation of food and water and medicines, that’s made that situation as desperate as I’ve ever seen.” This has fuelled anger on the ground. How can aid agencies persuade the warring parties that the only side they take is humanity? “I care about the families of the people who are taken hostages. I care about the civilians in Israel who regularly have to go in the basement, and I also care about the Palestinians. One does not exclude the other. We're not doing accounting,” concludes Carboni. Listen to the latest episode of our Inside Geneva podcast and join host Imogen Foulkes to find out more about the situation in Gaza. Get in touch!
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| 23 Jan 2024 | A look into South Africa’s genocide case against Israel | 00:31:36 | |
The International Court of Justice (the United Nations’ top court) is considering charges of genocide against Israel. The case was brought by South Africa. Get in touch!
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| 06 Feb 2024 | Humanitarian and business alliances: Reflecting on Earthquake Rescue Efforts in Turkey and Syria | 00:38:21 | |
It’s one year since devastating earthquakes hit Turkey and Syria. Inside Geneva talks to search and rescue teams who were there:
Filip Kirazov, from Search and Rescue Assistance in Disasters (SARAID) says: “Every member of SARAID is a volunteer. So no one gets paid for any of the work we do. Our sole aim is to minimize human suffering, due to the impact of natural or manmade disasters.”
And to local business leaders who had tried to prepare for such a disaster.
“We were expecting a big earthquake in Istanbul, and we were calculating the number of people that were going to lose their lives, and the number of economic losses. The role of businesses there was to be prepared before, and help the economic recovery afterwards,” says Erhan Arslan, Turkonfed (Turkisn Enterprise and Business Confederation).
Can humanitarian organisations and business work together to respond? The United Nations (UN) have an initiative that tries to do just that.
Florian Rhiza Nery, Connecting Business Initiative says: “We often times see the challenges that come from the differences, between the business community, the private sector, and humanitarian organisations, not just the UN.”
Can it work? Humanitarians and entrepreneurs don’t always think the same way…
“When I hear about private public partnerships, I always say about in terms of the private ‘what’s in it for them?’ And the question of a private company being totally neutral or altruistic, I still have my doubts,” concludes Daniel Warner, political analyst.
Join host Imogen Foulkes on Inside Geneva Get in touch!
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| 20 Feb 2024 | Reflecting on Ukraine's Struggle and Perseverance Two Years into the Russian Invasion | 00:41:25 | |
The war in Ukraine is two years old. Inside Geneva discusses the latest military developments in Ukraine, the chances of peace and where the war will go from here. “Isn’t there a limit when there are so many civilian deaths so you as a state have a responsibility to stop?” asks journalist Gunilla van Hall. How will this war end? Ukraine, with the West’s support, is fighting a regime that poisons, imprisons, and kills its political opponents. Inside Geneva host Imogen Foulkes says: “Putin's dream of getting the whole country, if that's what he wanted, doesn't seem that achievable, and yet Ukraine getting its entire country back doesn't seem achievable either.” What chance is there of a peace agreement? Does the United Nations have any role to play? “With this particular cast of characters, it's not going to happen. With Putin on the one side and [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelensky and his entourage. They’re committed to victory whatever that is,” says Jussi Hanhimäki, professor of international history at the Geneva Graduate Institute. Is the West’s support for Ukraine waning? What could that mean for international stability? “Russia is basically independent as far as acting in this war, whereas Ukraine is dependent. And I think of the question of Western fatigue and the radar now is on the Middle East,” concludes analyst Daniel Warner. Join host Imogen Foulkes on the Inside Geneva podcast for the answers. Get in touch!
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| 05 Mar 2024 | What’s the future of UNRWA? The Struggle for Balance in Gaza's Aid Operations | 00:37:27 | |
The UN’s refugee agency for Palestinians, UNRWA, is the focus of major scrutiny after Israel claimed some UNRWA staff were involved in the October 7th attacks, and thousands more were members of Hamas, or supportive of it. Now one of two UN investigations has concluded that UNRWA does need to improve its measures to uphold the humanitarian principles of impartiality and neutrality, but that Israel has offered no supporting evidence for its claims that many UNRWA staff support Hamas. Many people around the world hadn’t really heard of UNRWA before this scandal - so what is it exactly, why was it founded, and does it really need to continue? Imogen Foulkes takes a deep dive, talking to UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini, Israeli diplomat Nina Ben-Ami, Jan Egeland of the Norwegian Refugee Council, and Louis Charbonneau of Human Rights Watch. Inside Geneva looks at what’s at stake. Get in touch!
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| 19 Mar 2024 | Is AI a risk to democracy? | 00:40:43 | |
In 2024, four billion of us can vote in elections. Can democracy survive artificial intelligence (AI)? Can the UN, or national governments, ensure the votes are fair? “Propaganda has always been there since the Romans. Manipulation has always been there, or plain lies by not very ethical politicians have always been there. The problem now is that with the power of these technologies, the capacity for harm can be massive,” says Gabriela Ramos, Assistant Director-General for Social & Human Sciences & AI Ethics at UNESCO. Analyst Daniel Warner continues: “I’m worried about who’s going to win. But I’m also worried about whether my vote will count, and I’m worried about all kinds of disinformation that we see out there now. More than I’ve ever seen before.” Are deep fakes the biggest dangers? Or just not knowing what to believe? “I think the problem is not going to be the content created, the problem is going to be the liar’s dividend. The thing that everything can be denied, and that anything can be questioned, and that people will not trust anything,” said Alberto Fernandez Gibaja, Head of Digitalisation and Democracy at the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA). Laws to regulate AI are lagging behind the technology. So how can voters protect themselves? Get in touch!
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| 02 Apr 2024 | Eyewitness in a Gaza hospital and defending human rights defenders | 00:33:58 | |
In Inside Geneva this week we get an eyewitness account of a mission to supply Gaza’s hospitals. Chris Black, World Health Organisation: ‘People have told me oh you must be very brave for going to Gaza. I don’t think so, I think what’s brave is the people who have been doing this work since early October, and who go back every day, to do it again and again and again.’ Aid agencies say nowhere is safe in Gaza Chris Black, World Health Organisation: ‘A woman with her young child saying to me, are we safe here? And I wanted to say to her ‘You’re in the grounds a hospital, this is a protected space, you should be safe here’. But I couldn’t say to her ‘you’re safe here.’’ And we hear from human rights defenders who have come to Geneva, hoping for support. Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, human rights defender, Belarus: ‘I really believe that the democratic, powerful world will its teeth and will show to dictators that they will not prevail. We are not asking you to fight instead of us, we are asking you to help us fight the dictators.’ Are democracies letting human rights defenders in autocratic states down?
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| 16 Apr 2024 | The Rwandan genocide 30 years on: witnessing atrocities - and trying to stop them | 00:39:10 | |
The world is marking 30 years since the Rwandan genocide. Inside Geneva talks to those who witnessed it. “We came to one village where there were a few survivors and a man came to me with a list and said ‘look, the names have been crossed out one by one, entire families, they were killing everybody from those families,’” says Christopher Stokes, from Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders). Charles Petrie, former United Nations (UN) humanitarian coordinator, recalls: “She thought there was a good chance that the Interahamwe [militia] would find the kids, the children, and she said, ‘pray that they don’t hack them to death, pray that they shoot them’”. Why was it not prevented? “The paralysis of the UN system, the paralysis of all the major players to respond to what was pretty clearly a massive genocidal operation,” says Gareth Evans, former Australian foreign minister. Senior diplomats worked to make the UN stronger in the face of atrocities. “Instead of talking about the right to intervene, we talked about the responsibility to protect. There are some kinds of behaviour which are just inconceivably beyond the pale, whatever country we live in, and just do demand this response,” says Evans. Has “responsibility to protect”, or R2P, worked? “I don’t think there’s been significant progress. I would say actually that we went from perhaps a hope, an illusion that something would be done to actually not expecting anything at all now,” says Stokes. Join host Imogen Foulkes on the Inside Geneva podcast. Get in touch!
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| 30 Apr 2024 | New wars, new weapons and the Geneva Conventions | 00:26:45 | |
In the wars in Ukraine and in the Middle East, new, autonomous weapons are being used. Our Inside Geneva podcast asks whether we’re losing the race to control them – and the artificial intelligence systems that run them. “Autonomous weapons systems raise significant moral, ethical, and legal problems challenging human control over the use of force and handing over life-and-death decision-making to machines,” says Sai Bourothu, specialist in automated decision research with the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots. How can we be sure an autonomous weapon will do what we humans originally intended? Who’s in control? Jean-Marc Rickli from the Geneva Centre for Security Policy adds: “AI and machine learning basically lead to a situation where the machine is able to learn. And so now, if you talk to specialists, to scientists, they will tell you that it's a black box, we don't understand, it's very difficult to backtrack.” Our listeners asked if an autonomous weapon could show empathy? Could it differentiate between a fighter and a child? Last year, an experiment asked patients to rate chatbot doctors versus human doctors. “Medical chatbots ranked much better in the quality. But they also asked them to rank empathy. And on the empathy dimension they also ranked better. If that is the case, then you opened up a Pandora’s box that will be completely transformative for disinformation,” explains Rickli. Are we going to lose our humanity because we think machines are not only more reliable, but also kinder? “I think it's going to be an incredibly immense task to code something such as empathy. I think almost as close to the question of whether machines can love,” says Bourothu. Join host Imogen Foulkes on the Inside Geneva podcast to learn more about this topic. Get in touch!
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| 14 May 2024 | Is the world brave enough to agree on a pandemic treaty? | 00:35:59 | |
Four years ago, our lives were upended by the Covid-19 pandemic. Countries locked down, millions became ill, millions died. And when the vaccine finally arrived, it was not fairly distributed. Rich countries bought too many, poor countries waited, with nothing. “What we saw during the Covid-19 pandemic was collapse. Basically, a complete failure of international cooperation,” says Suerie Moon of Geneva Graduate Institute’s Global Health Centre. Surely we can do better? Countries are gathering in Geneva to try to hammer out a pandemic treaty. Do they have the vision? And the courage? “There’s been so much lip service paid to equity, but when it actually comes to nailing down what that means, and how to avoid a repeat, it seems like governments are struggling,” says Kerry Cullinan, deputy editor of Health Policy Watch. What about the vaccine manufacturers? Are they ready to share? Are we going to be better equipped for the next pandemic? “I think it would be an insult to the seven million people plus who died during the pandemic for there not to be a historic agreement,” says Cullinan. Join host Imogen Foulkes on our Inside Geneva podcast to learn more about this treaty. Get in touch!
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| 28 May 2024 | Laws that changed our world and the people who fought for them | 00:30:46 | |
In this week’s episode of our Inside Geneva podcast, we revisit our coverage of laws that changed the world. We’d like to invite you to a live recording session of our Inside Geneva podcast about the role of the Geneva Conventions and international law. Mark your calendars - June 5, 2024, from 12:30am to 13:30pm - at the Geneva Graduate Institute. Registration is required to secure your spot here. If you have any questions, please email us at event@swissinfo.ch. From the Convention against Landmines: "The very day that I entered the hospital for war victims, I realised that all these patients were without one or two legs," said Dr Alberto Cairo from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). "Every day, just about, somebody was injured by a landmine, and they were rushed off to Khao-I-Dang hospital to have their legs amputated," said nurse Denise Coghlan, in Cambodia. The convention was adopted in 1997. Steve Goose, from Human Rights Watch, says: "This has been an extremely successful treaty, because it has saved so many lives, and so many limbs, and so many livelihoods." But landmines still cause huge harm. "Every morning when I get up in the morning I put on my artificial leg. That’s something that I will do every day for the rest of my life," said Stuart Hughes, a landmine survivor. We have a convention against genocide, but is it enough? Ken Roth, human rights expert, says: "People feel like, if you don’t call it genocide, then it’s not serious. And that’s a mistake." "We have a genocide convention, and we don’t have a crimes against humanity convention, at least not yet," said Paola Gaeta, professor at the Geneva Graduate Institute. And the Convention against Enforced Disappearances – a protection for families as well as the disappeared. Cordula Droege, from the ICRC, says: "Victims of enforced disappearances are not only those who are disappeared but also those who suffer directly from it, such as the relatives." "He was taken by armed men, and taken to a car, a red car without a plate number, and he disappeared," said Aileen Bacalso. Olivier de Frouville, UN expert on enforced disappearances, adds: "That’s why we describe also for the relatives, who are victims of enforced disappearances, we describe it as torture, because this is real torture." Inside Geneva hears from the people who campaigned to make our world safer, and asks, are we honouring their laws and their sacrifices? Get in touch!
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| 11 Jun 2024 | Is international law dead? | 00:51:36 | |
Geneva is the home of international law, the rules that are supposed to stop the worst violations in war. But does anyone respect it anymore? Andrew Clapham, Professor of International Law at the Geneva Graduate Institute, says: “It’s quite blatant that when we like what the International Criminal Court is doing we will support it, but as soon as it steps out of line we will call it a ridiculous institution. So, it is a bit of a crossroads for international law.” The Geneva Conventions are 75 years old – are young people even aware of them? “We have the law, and at least my generation or younger generations tolerate much less those types of violations, and we are reporting more,” says Cristina Figueira Shah, international law student and co-President of the Human Rights, Conflict and Peace Initiative. Are there any rules of war that work? Laurent Gisel, Head of the Arms and Conduct of Hostilities Unit at the Legal Division of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), explains that “far fewer people know about the prohibition of blinding laser weapons than the mine ban treaty. Why? Because it has been prohibited before they were developed. And it was prohibited 50 years ago.” Does indicting a political leader achieve more than headlines? “Naming somebody as a potential war criminal has a huge effect because if the leader is named as a war criminal, like President Putin or Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, that means that assisting them to do what they are doing means that you are aiding and assisting, potentially, in a war crime,” says Clapham. How can we encourage more respect? “I think we should go back and understand all the reasons why we got to this point in the first place. How we wrote all the international treaties and understand from that what our generation can do to improve it,” says Shah. “Violation of international humanitarian law creates even more hatred. And if you want to live in peace afterwards, it helps to respect international humanitarian law during the conflict,” says Gisel. Join Imogen Foulkes for an Inside Geneva special from Geneva’s Graduate Institute where experts and audience ask: “Is international law dead”? Get in touch!
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| 25 Jun 2024 | Summer profiles: women defending other women around the world | 00:22:04 | |
On Inside Geneva, we’re bringing you a series of summer profiles, from doctors in war zones to researchers into the diseases that affect the world’s poorest. Today, we talk to international human rights lawyer Antonia Mulvey, who devotes herself to defending women. “With many of those that we work with, who have been subjected to sexual violence, part of it is listening to them, hearing them, acknowledging what has happened,” Mulvey says. From Somalia, to Sudan, or Lebanon, Mulvey and her colleagues offer support and advice, but the women affected are always in control. “Some have the courage and bravery to step forward, and we represent them in legal cases. But they have to lead the way,” she adds. Mulvey also hopes to inspire other women. “Let’s step up, let’s work with women, let’s work with women’s groups, to take more cases, to keep challenging it, to keep pushing that door open,” Mulvey concludes. Join host Imogen Foulkes on Inside Geneva. Get in touch!
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| 09 Jul 2024 | Summer profiles: challenges in humanitarian aid with MSF’s Secretary General | 00:26:33 | |
Here’s episode two of our summer profiles series on the Inside Geneva podcast. We talk to the head of one of the world’s leading humanitarian agencies. We start with his first assignment in Darfur, in western Sudan. “As I was one day building the shelter I realised for the first time in many years I hadn't thought of what’s next? I wasn’t thinking everyday where do I go from here, what do I do, what’s my plan? I’d just been so absorbed in the work,” Chris Lockyear, Secretary General of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) told host Imogen Foulkes. We also discuss the current crisis in Gaza, where, amid terrible destruction, MSF is providing medical care. "What are we [on] now 37,000 people killed? It’s astonishing. Neighbourhood after neighbourhood after neighbourhood which has been completely flattened,” continues Lockyear. In Gaza, MSF staff have met children as young as five, who said they wished to die. “They've been going through this for months and months and months, and the brutality of what is happening, what they’re living through, yes, people are saying that they would rather end it than continue. And that can't be a surprise to us.” MSF has been outspoken when it believes international law has been violated: “What does it mean elsewhere? How could this be translated into other countries? Into Sudan, into the future if we can operate as a world with such impunity? Where does that leave us?” says Lockyear. Join host Imogen Foulkes on our Inside Geneva podcast to listen to the full interview. Get in touch!
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| 23 Jul 2024 | Summer profiles: unlocking treatment for neglected diseases | 00:30:28 | |
On Inside Geneva, we bring you part three of our summer profile series. This week we talk to a doctor looking for treatments for some of the world’s most neglected diseases. Valverde is the clinical lead on a project looking for treatments for sleeping sickness. “It’s a disease caused by a small parasite that almost always kills if untreated. During the first half of the 20th century there were huge epidemics. It not only destroyed communities but also caused the desertification of entire regions of Africa,” he adds. Cases of sleeping sickness with no effective treatment had been rising again until DNDi began combing medical trials – some abandoned by big drug companies as not profitable – for other options. They found one promising lead and began testing in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). “The motivation, concentration and interest shown by our doctors in the DRC who were developing the clinical trial, were totally amazing. For them it was an opportunity to serve their people. And that was absolutely beautiful,” says Valverde. The drug worked and sleeping sickness is on the way to being eradicated. “I think this is what I always wanted to do; to do something that could be helpful to others. And this is what satisfies me. Just seeing that people have opportunities.” Join host Imogen Foulkes on Inside Geneva to listen to the full interview. Get in touch!
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| 06 Aug 2024 | Summer profiles: using sport to unite refugees and host communities | 00:24:00 | |
In the fourth episode of our summer profile series on Inside Geneva, we talk to a Geneva career woman and a Geneva asylum-seeker about a project to unite communities through sport. Surely the world’s humanitarian capital is good at welcoming refugees and immigrants? “We have all these international organisations working on various global challenges. But when you talk to people from Geneva, they don’t really know what’s happening in this bubble,” says Lena Menge, from the Geneva Graduate Institute and co-founder of Flag 21. For asylum-seekers, arriving in a new country, even a safe one, can be hard. “I was very lonely. It wasn’t easy. You feel lost and don’t really know what’s happening or where you are. It takes time to realise where you are and what you are supposed to do,” says Mahdie Alinejad, an asylum-seeker from Iran and a coach with Flag 21. Flag 21 is a project that brings locals and asylum-seekers together – to run, swim, do yoga, and much more. “Sport was actually a meaningful tool to include people in need, people that needed a community around them as well,” continues Menge. The project benefits everyone. “It’s not easy to have this confidence and grow in society as an immigrant. So this is a very good thing that they’re doing, giving opportunities to people who really need it, to find themselves, their space, their place and their confidence,” says Alinejad. “They have such resilience and so much strength to share that you come away thinking ‘my God, my little problems are really nothing’,” concludes Menge. Join host Imogen Foulkes on Inside Geneva to listen to the full interview. Get in touch!
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| 19 Aug 2024 | Special episode: World Humanitarian Day stories from crisis zones | 00:30:36 | |
Join us for a special extra edition of Inside Geneva to mark World Humanitarian Day, with testimonies from aid workers who have given their all – and who have often lost a great deal. “So I had taken him to the airport together with our child, and, yes, it took me in fact many years to be able to use the same elevator in the airport where I last kissed him,” says Laura Dolci. Dolci’s young husband Jean-Selim was killed, just weeks after the birth of their son, in the bombing of the UN’s headquarters in Baghdad in 2003. Twenty years on, WHO cameraman Chris Black was sent to Gaza, to support, and document, medical care there. “Something I really will never forget is a woman, with a young child, saying to me: ‘Are we safe here?’ And I wanted to say: ‘Yes, you're in the grounds of a hospital, under international humanitarian law this is a protected space, you should be safe here.’ But I couldn't say to her: ‘You're safe here,’” says Black. More than 200 aid workers have been killed in Gaza since October 7, 2023. “People have told me oh you must be very brave for going to Gaza. And I don't think so. I think what's brave is the people who have been doing this work since early October and who go back every day to do it again and again and again,” continues Black. “The aid worker, the humanitarian worker, the peacekeeper; ultimately it's a human being that decides to put its own being to the service of humanity,” says Dolci. Join host Imogen Foulkes on Inside Geneva for an inspiring listen. Get in touch!
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| 20 Aug 2024 | Summer profiles: Afghan women’s struggle against Taliban oppression | 00:25:57 | |
It’s three years since the Taliban took back control in Afghanistan. Inside Geneva talks to an Afghan human rights defender. “I was scared and I could see it coming. Yes, I mean, I think for the women of Afghanistan, we knew that the Taliban taking over would mean a dark future for women,” says Fereshta Abbasi from Human Rights Watch. In three years, women’s rights have been steadily, and brutally, repressed. “No matter what we have done in the past three years, we haven’t been able to reverse a single decree of the Taliban that is restricting women’s rights,” continues Abbasi. “In 2024, Afghanistan remains the only country in the world where women do not have access to education beyond the sixth grade. Women do not have the right to most employment. Women do not have the right to freedom of movement. Women do not have the right to protest and assemble. So, I think we need to speak about it,” says Abbasi. What can we do to support Afghan women? “I think it’s very important to stand with them, to listen to them, and to amplify their voices. It’s very difficult to think of a better Afghanistan, a brighter future for women under Taliban rule. And I don’t want to think about that. I want to believe and hold my strength together, that this madness cannot last.” Join host Imogen Foulkes on Inside Geneva. Get in touch!
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| 10 Sep 2024 | Special episode: Can the WTO shape a fairer world economy? | 00:37:10 | |
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. Get in touch!
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| 03 Sep 2024 | Summer profiles: Recognising and supporting survivors of sexual violence | 00:29:27 | |
Conflict-related sexual violence has existed for as long as war itself – forever. “It is a weapon of war. I would say it’s a weapon of mass destruction. It is really maximising harm,” says Esther Dingemans, Executive Director of the Global Survivors Fund. In Inside Geneva’s final summer profile, we talk to a woman working to support survivors of sexual violence…from Sudan, to Ukraine, to Syria, or Chad. “Young girls have been raped in front of their parents. Fathers are bound to chairs and forced to watch that. Or that an older – a woman in her 80s is raped in front of her son-in-law,” says Dingemans. The 1949 Geneva Convention prohibits wartime rape and enforced prostitution. But even today there are few prosecutions. And what about the survivors? “Survivors doubt themselves. Most victims of sexual violence will always question themselves. ‘Am I to blame?’” explains Dingemans. The Global Survivors Fund works for reparation – not just money, but health care, counselling, and above all, recognition of the harm done. “What is really important, particularly for survivors of sexual violence - which is often surrounded by so much shame and stigma - is that they are acknowledged, that harm has been done to them, and that it was not their fault,” concludes Dingemans. Join host Imogen Foulkes on Inside Geneva. Get in touch!
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| 17 Sep 2024 | Can the UN's Summit for the Future tackle today’s toughest challenges? | 00:36:27 | |
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. 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. Get in touch!
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| 01 Oct 2024 | Forty years of the convention against torture: are we honouring it? | 00:31:56 | |
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. Get in touch!
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| 07 Oct 2024 | Special episode: A year of war in the Middle East | 00:32:48 | |
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. “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. Get in touch!
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| 15 Oct 2024 | Does it matter to the UN who’s in the White House? | 00:38:48 | |
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. Get in touch!
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| 29 Oct 2024 | Love for life in Gaza and COP29’s ethical dilemma in Azerbaijan | 00:43:08 | |
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. Get in touch!
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| 12 Nov 2024 | Inside Geneva goes to New York: what really happens at the UN? | 00:31:30 | |
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. “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. Get in touch!
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| 26 Nov 2024 | Europe, the UN and the battle for human rights | 00:31:36 | |
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. Get in touch!
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| 10 Dec 2024 | How has the world changed in 2024? UN correspondents look back | 00:34:14 | |
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. Get in touch!
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| 24 Dec 2024 | Can the UN and international law survive? | 00:38:12 | |
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. Get in touch!
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| 07 Jan 2025 | Geneva and climate change, start local and change the world | 00:37:43 | |
For our planet, each year brings new climate records, and they’re not good ones. 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. Get in touch!
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| 21 Jan 2025 | What makes a good peace deal? | 00:31:02 | |
In this week’s Inside Geneva podcast episode, we ask: what makes a good peace agreement? 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. Get in touch!
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| 04 Feb 2025 | Donald Trump, the UN and the future | 00:43:54 | |
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. Get in touch!
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| 11 Feb 2025 | A new podcast is coming soon | 00:02:54 | |
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| 18 Feb 2025 | Aid, cuts and consequences | 00:43:42 | |
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. Search for Inside Geneva wherever you get your podcasts. Get in touch!
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| 24 Feb 2025 | US-Russia talks on Ukraine: peace or appeasement? | 00:36:57 | |
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. Get in touch!
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| 27 Mar 2020 | A decade of war in Syria | 00:28:15 | |
We take a look at the ongoing conflict in Syria. Shouldn’t it be over by now? Could humanitarian groups be doing more? Host Imogen Foulkes is joined by Jan Egeland, who served for several years as chair of the UN’s humanitarian task force for Syria, and Fabrizio Carboni, now the ICRC’s director of operations for the Middle East. Get in touch!
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| 09 Apr 2020 | Coronavirus: global scenarios and impact | 00:22:21 | |
What does the coronavirus pandemic mean for us, our society, our economy and our future? A discussion with Dr Margaret Harris of the World Health Organization and Professor Vinh-Kim Nguyen of the Centre on Global Health at Geneva’s Graduate Institute. Get in touch!
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| 28 Apr 2020 | Pandemics and power | 00:31:07 | |
Under the coronavirus pandemic, the relationship between leader and citizen has changed. World leaders have more power - in some cases, much more. Host Imogen Foulkes unpacks the implications with Ken Roth of Human Rights Watch and Meg Davis of Geneva's Graduate Institute. Get in touch!
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| 26 May 2020 | What’s the point of multilateralism? The UN at 75 | 00:34:24 | |
As the collective memory of the Second World War fades, how much do we know about the international laws and conventions designed to protect civilians during health crises and prohibit atrocities? Do we still think those laws are worthwhile, or is “my country first” a more appealing policy?And where does that leave multilateralism? A look at the highs, and the lows, of the UN over the last 75 years. Get in touch!
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| 16 Jun 2020 | In charge at the UN in trying times | 00:24:15 | |
With questions swirling about the role of the United Nations and its agencies in today’s world, what’s it like to be in charge of one? We speak with former UN Human Rights Commissioner Zeid Raad Al Hussein, who provides an honest look at the challenges facing the UN system and what needs to change. Get in touch!
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| 30 Jun 2020 | Why can’t we unite in the face of a global health crisis? | 00:32:53 | |
In this episode, we speak with Ilona Kickbusch of the Graduate Institute, Maria Guevara of Medecins sans Frontieres and Daniel Warner about the challenge of bringing a multilateral approach to health, about the US threat to leave the World Health Organization, and about who might fill the gap left by the US. Get in touch!
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| 09 Jul 2020 | World trade at a crossroads | 00:36:34 | |
Every country has to trade: to sell goods, and to import others that aren’t produced at home. But who makes the rules around trade? A look at the role of the World Trade Organization as chooses a new leader amid challenging times. Host Imogen Foulkes joins former WTO official Peter Ungphakorn, former Reuters correspondent and trade journalist Tom Miles, and analyst Daniel Warner, to look at what the WTO can do, and what it can’t. Get in touch!
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| 24 Jul 2020 | Can Covid-19 'vaccine multilateralism' work? | 00:35:13 | |
Where are we in the hunt for a coronavirus vaccine, and who will have access to it? A discussion with pharmaceutical manufacturers and those behind international collaborations meant to ensure that everyone can get the vaccine, if and when it's here. Get in touch!
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| 29 Aug 2020 | Unalienable rights, unpacked | 00:31:27 | |
In this episode we discuss the much-heralded intervention by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo into the human rights debate, with his report on what he calls "unalienable rights". But what is this, exactly, especially now that the US has left the United Nations Human Rights Council? Get in touch!
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| 05 Oct 2020 | Aid agencies face racism accusations | 00:29:36 | |
Geneva-based humanitarian aid agencies are soul searching as they stand accused of institutional racism. What's behind the accusations, and how are they being addressed? Get in touch!
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| 13 Oct 2020 | Coping with coronavirus as winter looms | 00:29:25 | |
Pandemic Fatigue: we’ve all got it. How are we going to cope this winter? Imogen Foulkes talks to global health expert Ilona Kickbusch, and members of the Swiss government’s Covid-19 taskforce for perspective. Get in touch!
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| 27 Oct 2020 | Who holds aid agencies accountable? | 00:32:28 | |
How do we know aid agencies and their workers are really delivering on what they promise? Host Imogen Foulkes discusses aid agency accountability with Tanya Wood of CHS Alliance, Charles-Antoine Hofmann of Unicef, and analyst Daniel Warner. Get in touch!
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| 03 Nov 2020 | Special episode: The future of the United Nations | 00:54:48 | |
The United Nations: fit for another 75 years, or extinct in 5? Host Imogen Foulkes joins guests Mallika Goel, Mohamed-Mahmoud Ould Mohamedou and Daniel Warner for a special live edition of Inside Geneva to mark 75 years of the UN. Get in touch!
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