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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.

“It was quite shocking waking up in the morning to that news. I remember the UN Refugee Agency already on the first day was saying 100,000 people had been displaced,” says Nina Larson of Agence France-Presse (AFP).

There is a new war in Europe. What does it mean for the UN and multilateralism?

“The UN was here to prevent new wars from happening. I think we can clearly say this part of the UN failed,” says Dorian Burkhalter of SWI swissinfo.ch.

“I think there’s a big challenge on the Geneva Conventions and many other multilateral organisations,” says Christiane Oelrich of Deutsche Presse-Agentur (DPA).

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights turns 75 next year. Will 2023 see an ideological battle over it?

“There’s a reason they call UN Human Rights Commissioner the toughest job at the UN. You can’t do nice things like bring food to hungry people,” says Imogen Foulkes, host of the Inside Geneva podcast.

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• Twitter: @ImogenFoulkes and @swissinfo_en

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For more stories on the international Geneva please visit www.swissinfo.ch/

Host: Imogen Foulkes
Production assitant: Claire-Marie Germain
Distribution: Sara Pasino
Marketing: Xin Zhang

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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.

“This is the reality of nuclear deterrence: that there is a nuclear armed country that can hold the rest of the world hostage,” says Alicia Sanders-Zakre of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN).

Have we forgotten how devastating these weapons are?

“Blast, high-velocity projectile, trauma, burns, including bodies just melting into the ground,” says Ruth Mitchell of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW).

What happens if a small tactical nuclear weapon is used?

“There is no small nuclear weapon. All nuclear weapons have devastating, lasting, generational humanitarian consequences,” says Sanders-Zakre.

What are the chances of a nuclear-free world now?

“The abolition of nuclear weapons seems to be much more difficult and problematic than the fact of just saying: ‘it’s against human rights, it’s against humanitarian law’,” says analyst Daniel Warner.

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• 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 Foulkes
Production assitant: Claire-Marie Germain
Distribution: Sara Pasino
Marketing: Xin Zhang

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This week on the Inside Geneva podcast, we answer questions from our listeners about migrants, asylum seekers, and refugees.
 
Our listeners asked us the following questions: What’s the difference between asylum seekers, stateless populations, and undocumented migrants? How does third country resettlement work? Does the United Nations Refugee Agency, or the International Organization for Migration, have the power to prosecute countries if they violate their obligations to UN conventions?

Podcast host Imogen Foulkes is joined by experts to provide answers on a topic that is often controversial.
 
 “Refugees are forced to leave their countries because of war, conflict and human rights violations. Basically, their lives are in danger,” says Shabia Mantoo, spokesperson for the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR).

“Most people don’t want to leave. They leave because they feel like there’s no other option but to leave,” says Paul Dillon, spokesperson for the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

“You just can’t push back people at borders if they’re seeking international protection. They need to be afforded that right to seek asylum,” says Mantoo.

“The conversation is toxic, divisive, and dangerous. Those conversations are not really fact-based, they’re emotive,” says Dillon.

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• 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 Foulkes
Production assitant: Claire-Marie Germain
Distribution: Sara Pasino
Marketing: Xin Zhang

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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.

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• Email us at [email protected]
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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 Foulkes
Production assitant: Claire-Marie Germain
Distribution: Sara Pasino
Marketing: Xin Zhang

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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!

• 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 Foulkes
Production assitant: Claire-Marie Germain
Distribution: Sara Pasino
Marketing: Xin Zhang

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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!

• 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 Foulkes
Production assitant: Claire-Marie Germain
Distribution: Sara Pasino
Marketing: Xin Zhang

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In this episode, host Imogen Foulkes explores the most important UN agency most of us have never heard of.
  
Malcolm Johnson, deputy secretary general, ITU: ‘Telephony, radio and tv broadcasting , satellite communications, the internet, they wouldn’t have developed.’
  
So what has the International Telecommunications Union ever done for us?
  
Fiona Alexander, IT expert: ‘If you’re a beneficiary of any modern day communications network, you have benefitted from something that the ITU has done.’
  
And why are Russia and the United States competing to lead it?
  
Simon Manley, UK ambassador to the UN in Geneva: ‘We want to see an internet that is open, that is peaceful, that is secure, that enables the sharing of knowledge, the sharing of ideas.’
  
Can different countries really unite around best standards for the internet? And can they work together to bridge the digital divide?
  
Fiona Alexander, IT expert: ‘Every member state has a different perspective on what’s appropriate and what’s not appropriate online.’

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• Email us at [email protected]
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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 Foulkes
Production assitant: Claire-Marie Germain
Distribution: Sara Pasino
Marketing: Xin Zhang

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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.
  
Florence Anselmo, Head of the Central Tracing Agency: "People going missing, families getting separated, families not knowing what has happened to their loved ones."
  
 Now it’s busy letting Russian and Ukrainian families know what has happened to their sons.
  
 Anastasia Kushleyko, CTA: "I’m calling from the ICRC, I’m calling from Geneva and this is the Central Tracing Agency. As of last week he was safe and well. He’s healthy."
  
 The tracing agency keeps its records forever.
  
Jelena Milosevic Lepotic: "A grandchild of someone who was in the second world war, you would be able to find information on your grandfather: when he was captured, where he was held, and what happened to him."
  
 Because families will always need to know.
  
Florence Anselmo: "Families do not stop searching. The need to know crosses generations. If parents do not have answers their children will look for answers and their grandchildren will look for answers."

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 Foulkes
Production assitant: Claire-Marie Germain
Distribution: Sara Pasino
Marketing: Xin Zhang

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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!

• 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 Foulkes
Production assitant: Claire-Marie Germain
Distribution: Sara Pasino
Marketing: Xin Zhang

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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!

• 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 Foulkes
Production assitant: Claire-Marie Germain
Distribution: Sara Pasino
Marketing: Xin Zhang