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2026 has started with some momentous events. Israel has banned dozens of aid agencies. What are the consequences?

“We’re supporting one in five of the hospitals in the Gaza Strip, and one in three babies that are born in Gaza are assisted by our staff on the ground. We’re doing surgical support, wound care, physiotherapy, maternity and paediatric care,” says Chris Lockyear, Secretary General of Medecins sans Frontieres.

The US cut billions from foreign aid, then announced $2 billion for selected projects.

“[We saw] Tom Fletcher next to Jeremy Lewin, a 28-year-old with no experience in the humanitarian sector, who said, ‘Well, the humanitarian organisations have to adapt or die,’” adds Dorian Burkhalter, Swissinfo journalist.

The money has strings attached, humanitarian crises in Afghanistan or Yemen get nothing.

“There was talk about the radical ideologies perpetrated by some of the UN agencies, which had undermined American interests and peace, bizarrely enough,” continues Nick Cumming-Bruce, contributor for The New York Times.

Part of that $2 billion goes to several Latin American countries, meanwhile the US says it’s now “running” Venezuela.

“Central and South America, obviously Washington views as its domain. And we’re all here in Geneva muttering to ourselves ‘but you just violated international law’. Does it matter to anyone?” says Inside Geneva host Imogen Foulkes. 

Are we seeing a bonfire of international laws?

“The fundamental commitments to some form of international law that have underpinned western security since the Second World War are being completely abandoned by an administration that doesn't acknowledge any accountability to anyone except itself,” says Cumming-Bruce. 

And what does it mean for the world’s most vulnerable?

“All around the world, whether they’re in Gaza, in Sudan, in Ukraine or Venezuela, there are real people who are living through the consequences of these decisions that are made in places like Washington DC and New York or in Geneva,” says Lockyear. 

Join host Imogen Foulkes on Inside Geneva. 

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Host: Imogen Foulkes
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This 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.

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Inside 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.

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On 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.

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COP30 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. 

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How 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.

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Host: Imogen Foulkes
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This 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.

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Host: Imogen Foulkes
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On 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.

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This 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.

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The 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.

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Host: Imogen Foulkes
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