Inside Geneva
Inside Geneva is a podcast about global politics, humanitarian issues, and international aid, hosted by journalist Imogen Foulkes. It is produced by SWI swissinfo.ch, a multilingual international public service media company from Switzerland.
Episodes
On Inside Geneva this week, we ask: in a world of violent conflict, is the UN – which was founded to keep the peace – doing its job?
“On many fronts the UN is doing indispensable work every day, bringing food to hungry people and ensuring practical standards for how we cooperate on the planet. Most countries follow the UN’s rules and principles on an everyday basis, so not too bad. [Former UN Secretary-General] Dag H...
On Inside Geneva this week: who are the peacemakers?
“Women are completely absent in high-level politics and from high-level peacemaking at the moment. However, this is only the visible part. Our focus has been so much on US President Donald Trump,” says Sara Hellmüller, professor of International Relations at the Geneva Graduate Institute.
Two peace experts, both women, give us their take.
“Traditionally, we have see...
On Inside Geneva this week, we look at women fighting for justice.
In 2017, Myanmar’s military launched an assault on the Rohingya population. Almost a million were displaced, there were reports of horrific violations: rape, the murder of children, including babies.
“The accounts that affected me most are those of children. Now I’m a grandfather, I sit there and listen and I think of my own kids when they were young a...
In August 2021, the Taliban took back control in Afghanistan. Women face unprecedented repression.
They can’t go to school or work; public parks are banned to them; they are not allowed to speak or sing too loudly. Are we turning away?
“This is the time for the international community and for other countries, especially the EU, to step in and to make sure they respond to the crisis in Afghanistan and stand with the w...
On Inside Geneva this week, we unpick the divisive topic of migration and asylum. Why are some countries closing their doors?
“In Europe we are seeing one country after another erect barbed wire around their country and around a continent,” says Jan Egeland, secretary general of the Norwegian Refugee Council.
When does restricting immigration turn into human rights violation?
“We believe it’s within the rights of any g...
On Inside Geneva this week, we take an in-depth look at US President Donald Trump’s new ‘Board of Peace’. Experts on conflict resolution are sceptical.
“The US circulated an invitation to about 60 countries to join a new board of peace that would not just focus on Gaza but would instead be a global conflict prevention organisation, complete with a pre-baked charter that looks a bit like President Trump took the proto...
On Inside Geneva this week: world leaders are gathering in the Swiss mountain resort of Davos, but do they have any answers?
“I think we are at an amazing moment in history. We have in our hands the opportunity to do well, to save our own environment, the planet, to take the right decisions to bring humanity onto a good path,” says Marilyne Andersen, Director General of the Geneva Science and Diplomacy Anticipator (G...
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 Frontier...
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 i...
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...
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 shoul...
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 h...
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 aroun...
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 did...
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 Ru...
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...
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 U...
On World Humanitarian Day, Inside Geneva spoke to a man who has dedicated his life to humanitarian work. He grew up in a quiet Swiss village – so what inspired him to take this path?
“When I was young, I quickly realised that many people didn’t have the same opportunities, they didn’t have equal chances. And to me, that felt fundamentally wrong,” says humanitarian worker Stéphane Jaquemet.
His first posting was to Gaz...
Inside Geneva’s fourth summer profile – not a person, but a much-loved museum.
“In this museum, we ask an essential question: what does humanitarian action have to do with me, in my life, here and now?” says Pascal Hufschmid, director of the Red Cross Museum.
This month there’s a special exhibition, “Tuning in” … to the sound of humanity.
“It’s an exhibition conceived as an exploration of sound archives – particularly...
Rachael Cummings of Save the Children is Inside Geneva’s summer profile this week.
“When I went into nursing, I also wanted to travel, so nursing gave me that opportunity. That was sort of an 18-year-old thinking, ‘Okay, I can use this to travel with’,” says Cummings.
Since taking her nursing skills to humanitarian work, she’s been all over the world.
“I think one of the things I’m most proud of is Save the Children’...
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