Inside Geneva

• War and the press

  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

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• Taking the pulse of the UN at 80

  Send us a textThis week on Inside Geneva, we take the pulse of the United Nations as it turns 80.“Someone celebrating their 80th birthday cannot be expected to be in tip-top shape. The UN is an old lady,” says Corinne Momal-Vanian, executive director at the Kofi Annan Foundation.Some world leaders don’t have much time for the UN.“All I got from the UN was an escalator that stopped halfway on the way up and a teleprompter that didn’t work,” said US President Donald Trump.Others think it needs an injection of fresh ideas.“We have to reimagine the UN, and reimagine multilateralism, from the point of confidence. And this confidence only comes once we account for the lived realities of people from the Global South,” says Prathit Singh, project coordinator at the Geneva Policy Outlook.“It’s just not the right answer anymore to have all these men in dark suits in conference rooms deciding the future of humanity,” continues Momal-Vanian.But we shouldn’t forget its successes: from eradicating smallpox, to reducing maternal mortality, to supporting the most vulnerable every day, all over the world.“It’s important to keep our optimism, and maybe realise that the UN is what we make of it,” says Fuad Zarbiyev, professor of international law at the Geneva Graduate Institute.“What would happen if we don’t cooperate? If we look at Covid, if we look at a potential climate disaster? People will be forced to cooperate and I think that’s something we should never forget,” adds analyst Daniel Warner.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

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• Are Democracies Copying Russia's Repressive Playbook?

  Send us a textOn our Inside Geneva podcast this week, we ask: are other countries following Russia’s lead in cracking down on freedom of expression?“I feel as though I’m monitoring a repression handbook used by the Russian government against its own civil society and, unfortunately, this handbook has been copied by other leaders in some democratic countries,” says Mariana Katzarova, the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Russia.Russian journalists warn us not to take our freedoms for granted.“It’s been more than a year since I was released from prison. Every morning I open my eyes and I’m so thankful. I know ‘democracy’ and ‘press freedom’ can sound vague to people living ordinary lives but when it comes to your door and rings your bell, it’s too late,” says Alsu Kurmasheva, Russian journalist freed in a 2024 prisoner swap.They urge us not to stay silent in the face of authoritarianism.“Through our silence, we have lost our country, Belarus. Those who remain silent really need to act, otherwise, what they’re leaving to their children is… silence,” says Svetlana Alexievich, author and Nobel Prize winner from Belarus. Silencing the media isn’t new – but is it spreading? “This issue about the media has long been part of the authoritarian rulebook: go after the press if you want to stay in power. What is happening now is that, in more and more countries, we see an authoritarian trend coming into politics,” says Irene Khan, UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of expression.“Just be aware of the danger. Don’t let it happen. I’m watching closely what’s unfolding in the United States with the closure of these programmes. How will society respond? What will happen? Because this is how it begins,” says Boris Akunin, Russian author now living in exile in London.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

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• Inside Geneva’s final summer profile: ICRC physiotherapist Rieke Hayes

  Send us a textThis week, in the final episode of our Summer Profiles series on the Inside Geneva podcast, host Imogen Foulkes talks to Irish physiotherapist Rieke Hayes, who now works in Gaza for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).“I think I went into physio with the classic idea – I’d have a little clinic, do outpatients, you know, back pain, neck pain. Turns out I really, really didn’t enjoy that setting at all once I was in it,” says Hayes.Her first posting was unexpected.“I got this email: would you be willing to go to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) in two weeks’ time? I didn’t know what DPRK was, so, yes, North Korea, and I went, of course, yes.” Now, she works in Gaza, treating patients with spinal injuries. “It’s very complicated for someone with a spinal injury to get off the ground and to mobilise with a walking frame – if they had one. But you don’t have a walking frame, you don’t have a wheelchair and you don’t have a raised bed. You’re in a tent and you might be sharing it with 20 relatives.” Can her patients recover, given the situation in Gaza?“Many patients leave our hospital and I say: we did a good job, we’ve done the best we can. I don’t know if they’re still alive or if they’re still walking, but we do what we can. But yes, they’re very dependent on friends and family – if they have any left, of course.” Join host Imogen Foulkes on our Inside Geneva podcast for the full interview.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

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• Is the UN still relevant at 80?

  Send us a textThe United Nations General Assembly has officially opened and the organisation marked its 80th anniversary. Inside Geneva asks whether the body remains relevant. “If you're a refugee in Bangladesh, or seeking protection in South Sudan, the UN may be imperfect but it’s still relevant,” says Richard Gowan from the International Crisis Group.The UN is bigger than many of us think.“We do sometimes forget that the UN still has 60,000 peacekeepers deployed around the world and that it continues to run vast humanitarian operations. So the UN isn’t dead, but I think it’s drifting,” he says.But what about the UN’s original role – resolving conflicts and promoting peace?“US President Donald Trump said he wants the UN to refocus on peace and security. But in reality, the US, along with other major powers, hasn’t been working through the UN to address any of today’s major crises.”Are world leaders making a mistake by leaving the UN out?“What UN mediators and other conflict resolution specialists have learnt over the past few decades is that peace is a slow business,” Gowan says.“Trump likes to present himself as a master dealmaker, but what he’s talking about isn’t constructing lasting peace. It’s about grabbing headlines on a few occasions.”Join host Imogen Foulkes on our Inside Geneva podcast.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

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