Inside Geneva

Send us a textThis week on Inside Geneva, we discuss the key stories of 2025 that we know will continue to make the news in 2026.“The top story of 2025 has been the cuts to the humanitarian aid sector. We knew that, with Donald Trump returning to the White House, cuts were likely, but we did not expect them to be so brutal,” says Swissinfo journalist Dorian Burkhalter.“I wanted to talk about Gaza, which has been one of the main issues I’ve been writing about for the past two years. It has been, in the words of many humanitarians, the most horrific humanitarian crisis they have seen in their careers,” adds Reuters journalist Emma Farge. “My story of 2025 is climate change. The village of Blatten was completely wiped off the map by a combination of a weak glacier and an unstable mountainside,” says Inside Geneva host Imogen Foulkes.“Ukraine. Peace talks have taken place here in Geneva quite recently. All the talk of peace has eclipsed the humanitarian toll of the conflict: the large numbers of Ukrainians hunted down by drones,” says Nick Cumming-Bruce, contributor for The New York Times:What do you think will be the key challenges for 2026? Join host Imogen Foulkes on Inside Geneva.Get in touch! Email us at [email protected] Twitter: @ImogenFoulkes and @swissinfo_en Thank you for listening! If you like what we do, please leave a review or subscribe to our newsletter. For more stories on the international Geneva please visit www.swissinfo.ch/Host: Imogen FoulkesProduction assitant: Claire-Marie GermainDistribution: Sara PasinoMarketing: Xin Zhang

Send us a textInside Geneva joins aid workers staying in Ukraine this December. The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) supports tens of thousands of people whose homes have been damaged or destroyed.Marcel van Maastrigt, UNHCR, Odessa: ‘At two in the afternoon you might have an air alert, and at three in the afternoon people in shops and restaurants are putting up Christmas decorations, because they want to continue their life. I think it's understandable.’MSF (Doctors without Borders) works in hospitals on the front line.Robin Meldrum, MSF, Ukraine: ‘Today I had electricity in my flat a few hours in the afternoon when I was at work, not here at home. The electricity is going to be off until about 11:00 until 2:00 in the morning. I'll have 3 or 4 hours of electricity tomorrow but it's wearing, it's tiring.’Aid workers share the risks with their Ukrainian colleagues.Robin Meldrum: ‘During the night there was a massive attack by Shahed drones and guided aerial bombs. One of the guided aerial bombs landed just about 35 or 40 metres from the two guest houses where our staff were living.’They share the festive season too.Marcel van Maastrigt: ‘There is a real effort to make it look like everything is normal, and to have the decorations, have the music outside, have the food. Sometimes people go to parties. It's nice to walk through town and see that happening. It gives some hope that this might in the end be better.’There are 130 conflicts around the world today, affecting millions of people. This holiday season, thousands of aid workers are staying put, hoping to make things a little better.Get in touch! Email us at [email protected] Twitter: @ImogenFoulkes and @swissinfo_en Thank you for listening! If you like what we do, please leave a review or subscribe to our newsletter. For more stories on the international Geneva please visit www.swissinfo.ch/Host: Imogen FoulkesProduction assitant: Claire-Marie GermainDistribution: Sara PasinoMarketing: Xin Zhang

Send us a textOn Inside Geneva this week: what does international law mean to you?“When your government is not there to uphold your rights, it’s that safety net – to think that there’s something else out there, other sets of rules that can help right wrongs and bring about some form of justice as well,” says Kasmira Jefford, editor at Geneva Solutions. The Geneva conventions, bans on torture and landmines: global rules that should protect us. And international courts to ensure accountability.“I think there's a different expectation, a different hope for international law today. We now have many rules that are far more ambitious than they used to be,” says Nico Krisch, professor of International Law at the Geneva Graduate Institute.But do they work?“All the justices saying X about Gaza, about Netanyahu. All the decisions of the International Criminal Court. Show me the results. Show me when Putin comes to Alaska. Show me when Netanyahu comes to the White House. How many violations can there be before the treaty or the norm becomes invalid? I think we’re seeing a level of violation that is extraordinary,” says analyst Daniel Warner.Do governments even want the laws to work?“I think if somebody proposed today to create an International Criminal Court, they’d be laughed at. This isn’t the diplomatic climate for such ventures,” continues Krisch.“The way certain leaders are acting today is not sustainable. They might get away with cherry-picking parts of treaties they like best for a while, but at some point there will be a reaction. It could be climate change, it could be massive natural disasters forcing us to work together,” adds Jefford.“We have these laws because we made some awful mistakes and committed terrible crimes. What I really hope is that we don’t have to reinvent everything because we made the same mistakes again,” says host Imogen Foulkes.Join host Imogen Foulkes on Inside Geneva.Get in touch! Email us at [email protected] Twitter: @ImogenFoulkes and @swissinfo_en Thank you for listening! If you like what we do, please leave a review or subscribe to our newsletter. For more stories on the international Geneva please visit www.swissinfo.ch/Host: Imogen FoulkesProduction assitant: Claire-Marie GermainDistribution: Sara PasinoMarketing: Xin Zhang

Send us a textCOP30 has ended without a firm commitment to phase out fossil fuels. Inside Geneva talks to some campaigners who remain surprisingly optimistic.“I’m actually quite hopeful, and I think that the answer is probably coming from the countries and the communities that have the most to lose,” says Candy Ofime, from the Climate Justice Team at Amnesty International.Indigenous peoples made their voices heard at COP30.They have deep knowledge of land use and forest preservation, which can help us tackle global warming.“The answer is us and that was part of the campaign that we had as indigenous peoples. [We said] ‘pay attention to the world.’ Basically the solution that many of us are looking for has already been happening in the indigenous local communities,” says Deborah Sanchez, from the Community Land Rights and Climate Initiative (Clarifi).  Some now suggest global warming is a hoax…but the scientific evidence proves otherwise. It is damaging our planet and our health.“These are clever people who want what’s best for you and can read a temperature graph, and they know that there are concrete actions that you can take which are good for your health, as well as good for the planet,” says Diarmid Campbell Lendrum, from the climate change and health unit at the World Health Organization (WHO). So does it matter that the world’s super power, and biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, stayed away from COP30?“The US is usually a blocker, and sometimes having the biggest polluters not in the room allows for consensus to be reached. And so in this forum, decisions have to be made, and they will be made with or without the United States,” says Ofime. Can the world tackle climate change without the US? Join host Imogen Foulkes on Inside Geneva. Get in touch! Email us at [email protected] Twitter: @ImogenFoulkes and @swissinfo_en Thank you for listening! If you like what we do, please leave a review or subscribe to our newsletter. For more stories on the international Geneva please visit www.swissinfo.ch/Host: Imogen FoulkesProduction assitant: Claire-Marie GermainDistribution: Sara PasinoMarketing: Xin Zhang

Send us a textHow do journalists report on war when they’re denied access?“For the first time I think since the Second World War, Israel has not allowed foreign journalists to come into Gaza. This is unprecedented,” says Israeli journalist Meron Rapoport.Palestinian journalists, who live in Gaza, have paid a terrible price for their reporting.“Gaza has been a horror story. The Committee to Protect Journalists estimates that around 200 Palestinian journalists have been killed in the past two years,” says Nick Cumming-Bruce, contributor for the New York Times.Many appear to have been deliberately targeted.Irene Khan, UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of expression and opinion, says: “I’ve been told by journalists that wearing a jacket marked ‘press’ doesn’t protect you. It actually makes you a target. That is just unacceptable."Aid agencies travel to Gaza – they, too, report on what they see. “We’ve reported on a war on children, a famine and a polio outbreak. Always, always, and only with data and testimonials,” says James Elder from the UN children’s charity Unicef.But often their evidence has been dismissed.“There is no famine in the Gaza Strip. It is simply not true,” said Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar.Should journalists have pushed harder for access?“International media should have told Israel, ‘We won’t accept any comments from the Israeli government unless you allow us access,’” adds Rapoport. Join host Imogen Foulkes for a fascinating discussion.Get in touch! Email us at [email protected] Twitter: @ImogenFoulkes and @swissinfo_en Thank you for listening! If you like what we do, please leave a review or subscribe to our newsletter. For more stories on the international Geneva please visit www.swissinfo.ch/Host: Imogen FoulkesProduction assitant: Claire-Marie GermainDistribution: Sara PasinoMarketing: Xin Zhang