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The world just agreed a pandemic treaty. But without the United States. Is it really a milestone?

‘‘It is a major step forward. I mean, just imagine if we failed. We would not only go back to the point before the pandemic, before COVID-19 struck us, we'd go back to a point much further back,” said Zeid Ra’ad al Hussein from the International Peace Institute.

But what about the global challenge of climate change?

“We're up against a ticking clock. And even though we've enjoyed successes in the past, even though the renewables rollout is going rather well, it's all too little, too late from the point of view of avoiding genuinely dangerous degrees of warming,” says climate security expert Peter Schwarzstein.

Why can’t world leaders really unite around global challenges?

‘Their children and grandchildren have to deal with abominable and extreme heat levels and forest fires and fierce hurricanes and no trade and collapsed economies and extreme food security and complete anarchy. Is this what they wish for their children. What form of love is that?” continues al Hussein.

Join host Imogen Foulkes on Inside Geneva for in-depth analysis of where we stand.

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

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It’s been 30 years since the Beijing Declaration on Women, a landmark agreement to empower women and girls.

“The Beijing declaration was such an incredible moment to say that enough is enough. Women are half of humanity and we have to be better,” says Lata Narayanaswamy, associate professor at the School of Politics and International Studies at the University of Leeds.

But now, some governments are rolling back women’s rights. Humanitarian programmes that help women and girls are being cut.

“During his first presidential term, Trump vetoed a new resolution proposed under the UN Women, Peace and Security agenda because it enshrined the right of women to their reproductive rights,” says Leandra Bias from the Institute of Political Science at the University of Bern.

What’s happening? Support for vulnerable women is being cut, and toxic masculinity is growing. The UN is worried.

“I am concerned about the resurgence in some quarters of toxic ideas about masculinity and efforts to glorify gender stereotypes, especially among young men,” said UN human rights commissioner Volker Türk.

This week Inside Geneva asks what toxic masculinity actually means. Is it even new?

“What worries me about the language of toxic masculinity is that it’s like, ‘Oh my God, we didn’t know this was coming.’ But it’s actually just a continuity of how violence and patriarchy combine,” says Narayanaswamy.

Is there a connection between toxic masculinity and the repression of women? Are both now identifiers for authoritarian regimes?

“‘We are the tough guys, we are actually the proper nations, while look at Europe, they have been completely emasculated and therefore they are not a model to aspire to.’ Therefore, democracy is also not a model to aspire to,” says Bias.

Join host Imogen Foulkes on Inside Geneva to listen to the full episode.

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• Email us at insidegeneva@swissinfo.ch
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Host: Imogen Foulkes
Production assitant: Claire-Marie Germain
Distribution: Sara Pasino
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On Inside Geneva this week, aid agencies count the costs of funding cuts.

“I am most sad for all the millions of people living with HIV and affected by HIV whose lives have been upended. They have lost access to life-saving medication. They have showed up at clinics for support, only to find no one there to help them,” says Angeli Achrekar, Deputy Executive Director for the Programme Branch at the Joint United Nations (UN) Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS).

The cuts are hitting women and girls especially hard.

“Right now, a woman dies from a preventable form of maternal mortality every two minutes. That’s unacceptable. One of the grants that the United States has just cut supports the training and salaries of midwives,” says Sarah Craven, Director of the Washington Office of UNFPA, the UN Population Fund.

What will happen to local NGOs in crisis zones that relied on UN support?

“I have to have hope. I am the leader of the Sudanese Red Crescent Society. I have staff and 12,000 volunteers behind me. So, I always have to be really strong and give hope to everyone to continue serving Sudan,” says Aida Al-Sayed Abdullah, Secretary General of the Sudanese Red Crescent Society.

But could the cuts bring much-needed reform?

“Sure, the humanitarian system isn’t perfect. It can be inefficient and a little bit colonialistic at times. But it was delivering results. We were seeing actual progress. Now, in just a few months, decades of progress will be erased,” says Dorian Burkhalter, SWI swissinfo.ch journalist.

Or will the cuts cost lives and cause more crisis?

“We’re so close to ending AIDS, full stop. Now, we could very well be turning back completely. All those years of work, dedication and progress,” says Achrekar.

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Host: Imogen Foulkes
Production assitant: Claire-Marie Germain
Distribution: Sara Pasino
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On Inside Geneva this week, we ask whether the United Nations (UN) and multilateralism have a future.

“Is the UN anachronistic? I mean, it was formed after the Second World War. Obviously, it’s getting a little bit dusty,” says political analyst Daniel Warner.

Younger generations from the Global South tell us where
they see the UN’s flaws.

“The countries of the Global North have not stood up to the ideals that they have created in an equitable manner. It’s simply like preaching water and drinking wine,” says Pratyush Sharma from the Global South Centre of Excellence in Dehli.

“The United Nations Security Council is absolutely inefficient in dealing with the reality of people, especially from the Global South,” continues Marilia Closs from Plataforma CIPÓ in Brazil.

“The Global South cannot exist on its own. Likewise the Global North also cannot exist on its own,” says Olumide Onitekun from the Africa Policy and Research Institute in Nigeria.

But the UN was created for very good reasons.

“When you think about the end of the Second World War and how the UN was created, the world was so sick and tired of war, they wanted it to end. It’s a different mindset. You know, it just makes me think, is that what we’re going to need?” says Dawn Clancy, UN journalist in New York.

Can the UN survive? Join host Imogen Foulkes on our Inside Geneva podcast to find out.

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Host: Imogen Foulkes
Production assitant: Claire-Marie Germain
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The world is changing fast. Are democracy and human rights under threat? Our Inside Geneva podcast takes a deep dive.

“Donald Trump is unravelling the constitution, where I believe we could describe this as a coup d'état,” says human rights lawyer Reed Brody.

What happens when Big Tech gets involved in politics?

“It is fine for Instagram or TikTok to realise that I am into biking and then try to sell me bikes. That’s fine. That’s a product. Manipulate me to sell me that. But that’s not fine with political ideas,” continues Alberto Fernandez Gibaja, Head of Digitalisation and Democracy at the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA).

What about free speech?

“For the first time in my life, I am listening to Americans on the radio and TV, talking to the press and refusing to use their names because they are afraid of retaliation,” says Brody.

Is it still possible to have a democratic, fact-based debate?

“For those of us who believe that we share a reality based on facts and science, we are on the losing side,” says Fernandez Gibaja.

Are we losing the fundamental freedoms set out in the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights? Join host Imogen Foulkes on Inside Geneva to find out.

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Host: Imogen Foulkes
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In Ukraine, and in the Middle East, men say they are negotiating peace. But are they?

“Ending war is necessary to peace without a doubt, but ending war does not mean peace. So, whenever these men use the word ‘peace’ in order to say ‘ceasefire’ and ‘stop the guns’, this is not peace,” says Deborah Schibler from PeaceWomen across the Globe (PWAG).

“What the US is doing right now is an extractivist assertion of power, arguably even a second imperial ambition that we are seeing now alongside Russia. Democracy, peace and gender equality mutually reinforce each other,” adds Leandra Bias from the Universtiy of Bern.

So, where are the women in these “peace” negotiations? Our guests tell Inside Geneva that they should be everywhere... not nowhere.

“Women, women’s perspectives, gender perspectives and human security perspectives have to be in every process and every structure of armed forces,” says Mahide Aslan, head of women and diversity at Swiss Armed Forces.

“There are so many women who are really keen to get involved in these formal peace negotiations and who are ready for it, but it is made very difficult for them,” says Larissa Lee, from PWAG.

How can women’s voices be heard in peace talks? Join host Imogen Foulkes on our Inside Geneva podcast.

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• Email us at insidegeneva@swissinfo.ch
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Host: Imogen Foulkes
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On Inside Geneva this week, we take a step back from the breaking news and talk to the authors of two books about the better side of humanity.

“The defence of human rights is not a matter of holding a candle and singing Kumbaya. The defence of human rights is about playing hardball. It's about putting pressure on governments, making them realise that repression isn't paying because the consequences are so severe,” says Kenneth Roth, author of Righting Wrongs.

Those consequences apply to violations of the laws of war – laws that are much stricter than you might think.

“One can speak about the leaders of a war of aggression as having individual criminal responsibility. If it’s illegal for the leader, maybe it’s illegal also for the soldiers who participate in it. And maybe it’s a violation not just to kill civilians on the other side, but Ukrainian soldiers,” continues Andrew Clapham, author of War.

Defending human rights doesn’t always make you popular.

“I made sure that Human Rights Watch was bringing facts to the table that the governments didn’t know. That was part of my job. My father fled the Nazis as a young boy. I grew up Jewish. I am Jewish. So I feel a certain responsibility to take on not just the duty of criticising Israeli abuses, but also to address the misuse of anti-Semitism,” says Roth.

And while some governments are pushing back, international law is robust.

“You might think that by changing the lawyers or creating facts on the ground, you’re going to get away with it. But those war crimes allegations stick to you for life. There’s no statute of limitations on war crimes, and you could easily find yourself prosecuted in ten or 20 years’ time,” says Clapham.

Join host Imogen Foulkes for in-depth interviews on two thought-provoking books.

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• Email us at insidegeneva@swissinfo.ch
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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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On the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Inside Geneva has some big questions about the US-Russia talks this week on ending the war in Ukraine.

“Is this really a peace deal or is it just a deal about money? Or is it even some kind of capitulation or a power grab?” asks Inside Geneva host Imogen Foulkes.

What does US President Donald Trump want?

“Do you want to just stop the war, or do you want to win it? We don’t know what President Trump would consider a win. One suspects it’s a win that would be purely transactional in US interests,” says Nick Cumming-Bruce, contributor for the New York Times.

Who will have to make sure that peace is sustainable?

“The US will take the decisions together with Russia, with Putin, but who is going to do the real work afterwards? It is Europe,” adds Gunilla von Hall, correspondent for Svenska Dagbladet.

How can negotiations even take place without Ukraine?

“We will never be able to talk about peace and sustainable peace as long as the Ukrainians are not involved, because the grievances will remain,” says Laurent Sierro, journalist at the Swiss News Agency Keystone-ATS.

These are tough questions for the US, Europe and Ukraine. And what about the United Nations – does it have a role at all? Join us on Inside Geneva to find out.

Get in touch!

• Email us at insidegeneva@swissinfo.ch
• 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