Geneva Solutions • 27th January 2023

Indigenous leader seeks support in Geneva amid Peru's turmoil

Peru took centre stage this week at the Human Rights Council as delegations came down on ongoing human rights violations during the country’s scheduled rights review. But civil society groups are hoping that the international community can go further, to bring lasting justice to the country’s long-forgotten populations.

Geneva Solutions • 24th January 2023

Davos takes on climate finance: a lot of unanswered questions - Geneva Solutions

As life in Davos returns to normal after a week of the resort’s most famous business huddle, climate action appears to rely on the goodwill and positive risk assessments by global firms and their CEOs.

Geneva Solutions • 19th January 2023

Amid Davos business talk, international community struggles to find a voice

A week after its managing directors presented an agenda on how a global “polycrisis” will be tackled through better cooperation, the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) business-centred focus has returned to centre stage, to the frustration of some of its international neighbours from Geneva and beyond.

Geneva Solutions • 18th January 2023

WEF only ‘about tweaking the system’: rogue business leaders call for real wealth distribution

Fifty years after a group of economists, business people and scientists called for a rethink of the economic growth models, the climate crisis and rising social inequalities have brought a new urgency to the need to find new solutions. But it’s not on Davos’s formal guest list that the instigators of that line of thought can be found.

Geneva Solutions • 13th January 2023

Davos strapped between old and new as economy, war and climate set to dominate agenda

Three years after its last live January meeting set in a snowy Davos, the World Economic Forum is expecting “record participation” at its global annual hobnobbing event. Its agenda suggests a mix between economic discussions over a waning global economy and responding to emerging global crises, with climate concerns in the forefront.

Geneva Solutions • 4th January 2023

WHO pressures China to come clean on Covid

Senior officials at the World Health Organization (WHO) have pressured China to provide more Covid-19 data as cases continue to rise globally.

Geneva Solutions • 3rd January 2023

NGOs deem Taliban female staff ban ‘unacceptable’: aid group head - Geneva Solutions

With half of the country’s population already requiring urgent humanitarian support, a number of major Western aid groups said they were forced to suspend operations when authorities prohibited women aid employees from working for allegedly not complying with the proper use of hijab, or the Muslim head-scarf.

SWI swissinfo.ch • 3rd January 2023

Puerto Rico prepares to possibly become new US state

In November 2023, Puerto Ricans may vote on whether they want to become the 51 US state or gain full independence. Washington – for the first time ever – has signalled a possible green light to allow for a binding vote.

Geneva Solutions • 21st December 2022

Qatar World Cup: armbands, UN visits and the FIFA middleman

Right till the end, FIFA president Gianni Infantino kept plugging the line to journalists that the football championship in Qatar was the “best World Cup ever”. But amid the breathtaking games and drama on the field, controversies regarding the bidding process and human rights issues that may have been shoved aside in full view of UN agencies such as WHO and ILO, left clouds hanging over the pitch.

Geneva Solutions • 16th December 2022

WHO chief: workplace ‘stress’ amid senior management shuffle - Geneva Solutions

WHO director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus spoke for the first time about widespread departures at the organisation, and admitted that the Covid pandemic created challenging workplace conditions.

Geneva Solutions • 15th December 2022

Are calls for ‘effective’ development cooperation being heard? - Geneva Solutions

Eleven years after an agreement was concluded in South Korea setting principles for development aid distribution, a little-known high-level talk in Geneva prompts questions about what purpose the latest session serves.

The New Humanitarian • 9th December 2022

Is emergency shelter fit for purpose?

Given the growing frequency and intensity of climate disasters, the need for durable, humane emergency shelters is more vital than ever. Yet current ones are often ad hoc, lack health and safety protections, and leave those displaced stranded far from their original communities.

Léman Bleu • 23rd November 2022

«Le Qatar a réussi à faire taire les critiques»

Le Qatar a utilisé la Genève internationale pour se construire une réputation en matière d’intégrité dans le sport. Ce sportwashing, c’est ce que révèle l’enquête de la journaliste Paula Dupraz-Dobias.

The New Humanitarian • 21st November 2022

COP27: Diplomatic baby steps amid mounting humanitarian crises

Climate justice played a central role at COP27, where the snail’s pace of progress on addressing the climate emergency once again stood in stark contrast to the realities on disaster front lines.

SWI swissinfo.ch • 20th November 2022

Switzerland denounces COP27 outcome

After going into a second straight night of deliberations, the climate conference ended with an agreement to set up a long sought-after fund to pay developing countries for loss and damage resulting from climate change. Switzerland has yet to confirm if it will contribute and said the overall outcome was “not good”.

SWI swissinfo.ch • 19th November 2022

Swiss pioneering carbon offsets on the stand at COP27

Switzerland is among the countries keen to push for more offsetting deals which were institutionalised during COP26 last year. But these are proving to be not only controversial, but complex, to set up.

SWI swissinfo.ch • 18th November 2022

Switzerland's measured support for new loss and damage fund at COP27

Discussions on the creation of a new loss and damage fund to compensate vulnerable countries for the huge losses incurred by climate change are at the heart of COP27. Switzerland argues existing mechanism are adequate.

The New Humanitarian • 17th November 2022

In storm-hit Puerto Rico, local communities fill US disaster response gaps

Like its Caribbean neighbours, Puerto Rico is situated in the pathway of an alphabetical carousel of annual hurricanes that leaves it increasingly vulnerable to the effects of climate change. But unlike several of them – for instance, Barbadian Prime Minister Mia Mottley has become a leading advocate for climate justice, launching blistering attacks on rich nations and offering finance solutions – it has taken few actions to address the crisis.

SWI swissinfo.ch • 17th November 2022

War and warming planet put hunger at the heart of COP27

At a popular market in the Egyptian tourist resort hosting the latest round of United Nations climate talks, residents are feeling the strain of rising food prices. Ten kilometres to the north, conference participants, including Switzerland, are grappling with how to respond.

The New Humanitarian • 16th November 2022

A new dawn for climate financing?

For the first time in the COP summits’ nearly 30-year history, a call for climate reparations championed by the world’s most vulnerable nations has made it onto the official agenda. It’s formally called loss and damage, and it entails payouts from the developed countries (who have profited the most from burning fossil fuels) to developing countries (who are suffering the worst from the impacts of climate change). Will this notion be accepted by rich countries? Or will political realities and developed countries’ fears around liability water down its original vision?