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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 (GESDA).

But will they take that path? Technology is racing ahead.

“Human rights, like every other field, are very much under the influence now of what’s happening in technology and science. It’s one of the destabilising factors right now,” says Jürg Lauber, Swiss ambassador to the United Nations (UN) in Geneva.

“I was absolutely sure that a robot can kill a human. We are living in a situation where we don’t even have these AI ethics,” says Tatiana Valovaya, Director-General of the UN Office at Geneva.

“If we just do things when they have already happened, then it’s too late and technology has already evolved to the next stage,” says Sylvie Briand, Chief Scientist at the World Health Organization (WHO).

International law is being abandoned.

“War is a terrible thing, but at some stage in the past, human beings decided to write the Geneva Conventions to at least reduce a little bit the horror of war,” adds Sami Kanaan, former mayor of Geneva.

In Geneva, a group is pushing for partnerships between science and politics, so we’re ready for the challenges ahead.

“Let’s take advantage of knowing what is coming to act on it now and not be in reactive mode, not in catch‑up mode,” says Andersen.

Join host Imogen Foulkes on Inside Geneva.

Get in touch!

• Email us at insidegeneva@swissinfo.ch
• 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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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.

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

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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.

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