As Barham Salih prepares to take over as UN refugee chief in January 2026, Patrick Wall, a consultant who has worked closely with UNHCR staff through the funding crisis, sets out what an exhausted workforce – and a strained humanitarian sector – urgently need from their next leader.

As governments meet in Geneva to review progress on the Global Compact on Refugees, two refugee leaders from Uganda and Turkey warn that host countries and local actors are shouldering most of the burden – at the risk of breaking.

Climate change and population growth have added urgency to a deadly legacy that has haunted the Pacific for 80 years. The @thegichd.bsky.social, which brought experts from several Pacific Island nations to the city last month, hopes to turn the tide. ➡️ https://l.genevasolutions.news/sM

As a leading voice for climate and biodiversity, @wwf.panda.org will mark its 65th anniversary next year. Back in Gland from Belém, its head, Kirsten Schuijt, takes stock of lagging efforts to tackle global warming – and explains why she still remains optimistic. ➡️ https://l.genevasolutions.news/Wy

Nearly a year after the United States announced it would leave the World Health Organization and donor support became scarce, the UN agency’s head said it had “no choice” but to slash jobs.

As the world celebrates Human Rights Day, the system meant to protect people’s rights worldwide is reeling from a funding crisis resulting in 300 job cuts, shrinking operations and leaving defenders on the ground exposed.

As plastics treaty negotiations hover in limbo, will UNEA in Nairobi provide some political direction and a blessing for a new leader or turn into another stalling game? ✍️@michellelangrand.bsky.social @toxicsfree.bsky.social @ciel.org ➡️ https://l.genevasolutions.news/IZ

Reports of executions of Ukrainian soldiers captured by Russian forces are stacking up, according to the United Nations. While they are often difficult to prove, Ukrainian authorities investigating the deaths accuse Moscow of “criminal behaviour”. ➡️ https://l.genevasolutions.news/d7

Two months in since arriving in Geneva to lead the European Union’s diplomacy at the United Nations, German diplomat Deike Potzel stresses how closely EU values align with international Geneva’s brand of multilateralism, while arguing that the UN must be reformed so it can perform better.

Ukraine's decision to park its obligations under an international treaty banning anti-personnel landmines as it battles Russia's invasion has triggered pushback from its European allies and NGOs, which warn that it deals a blow to international law.

Amid soaring military spending and intensifying conflicts, Nathalie Chuard, the head of @dcafgeneva.bsky.social, warns that countries, from Europe to the Middle East, cannot militarise their way to stability and must invest in human security. ➡️ https://l.genevasolutions.news/iZ

Washington’s alignment with Moscow in a low-profile UN vote underscores its policy shift as US officials move to broker a deal to end the war in Ukraine on Russia's terms. ➡️ https://l.genevasolutions.news/57

Amid a surge in conflicts, rising IHL violations and dwindling resources, @icrc.org president Mirjana Spoljaric lays out the challenges the organisation faces, as it cuts a further 2,900 jobs on top of the 4,500 lost in 2023. ✍️Stéphane Bussard for @letemps.ch ➡️ https://l.genevasolutions.news/Vs

Israeli airstrikes on Gaza may have eased, but Palestinians continue to die of hunger, dehydration, disease, cold and despair. Laureline Lasserre, who travelled across the enclave for @msf.fr, describes an ever‑tightening hellscape.

By hosting talks between Ukrainian, US and European officials on a peace plan for Ukraine, partly sketched by the Russian Kirill Dmitriev, Switzerland treads a fine line between pushing for peace and defending the international legal order it so often champions. ➡️ https://l.genevasolutions.news/oL

Near-rebellion and last-minute manoeuvres marked a stormy meeting of the Aarhus Convention, putting to the test a treaty designed to protect environmental defenders.

Geneva, the longtime epicentre of humanitarian aid, peacemaking and diplomacy, is feeling the tremors of yet another wave of relocations and job cuts, from the UN children’s agency to the World Health Organization to Gavi.

The UN’s first Amazonian climate conference has put a spotlight on primary rainforests and the need to support their preservation. But Indigenous groups have their own proposals.

Three years after its adoption in Dublin, as countries meet in the Costa Rican capital of San José, humanitarians and human rights campaigners urge states to act on an international commitment to protect civilians from devastating attacks in built-up areas.

Forced labour of children, targeted attacks on workers and seized unions – Russia’s abuses are well-documented and known by the @ilo.org. It must now decide whether to live up to its mission or keep looking away from Ukraine, write Vasyl Andreyev & Luca Cirigliano, ILO Governing Body union members.

New forms of diplomacy are emerging to respond to a world where the rules-based system of the last 80 years, enshrined in the UN charter, is crumbling, says David Harland the director of the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue.

Aisha, now in Port Sudan, has no news of her aunt and nephew since El Fasher fell. Each day, she checks WhatsApp lists of survivors and waits for a brief Starlink call from a relative. Like many, she fears for those left behind. ➡️ https://l.genevasolutions.news/xz

As the Human Rights Council prepares to judge grave violations in Sudan, some of its own members – responsible for abuses themselves – are evading accountability, hurting the UN body’s credibility, writes Sigrid Lipott, UN adviser to @civicusalliance.bsky.social. ➡️ https://l.genevasolutions.news/w2

As the Human Rights Council hold an emergency debate on El Fasher, @monarishmawi.bsky.social, UN-backed expert documenting Sudan’s war, explains the scale and nature of the atrocities she says could’ve been averted. ➡️ https://l.genevasolutions.news/jm

Pekka Haavisto, Finland's former foreign minister and a seasoned peace mediator, believes pragmatic diplomacy can put the UN refugee agency back on track as he bids to become its future leader. ➡️ https://l.genevasolutions.news/4s

Humanitarians are dragging their feet on adopting AI over safety and data sovereignty concerns, the negotiation expert and ex-ICRC adviser points out. He believes that with the right strategic vision, technology can be their best ally in conflict-hit settings. ➡️ https://l.genevasolutions.news/JN

Amid atrocities in Darfur, the Human Rights Council will hold a special debate next Friday on the human rights situation in and around El Fasher. The UK-led request was presented on Wednesday, with the backing of over 50 countries. ➡️ https://l.genevasolutions.news/BX

As gold prices hit record highs, the Minamata Convention faces pressure to curb mercury use in small-scale mining. Member states meeting in Geneva this week will debate how to curb the highly toxic metal's trade. ✍️@pauladdobias.bsky.social

While planning for climate shocks, the @wmo-global.bsky.social is also having to weather a storm of unpaid dues and deep budget cuts. ➡️ https://l.genevasolutions.news/7R

Grave environmental crimes have long gone unpunished. A coalition of experts wants to make sure defenders have the tools to investigate and hold perpetrators to account.

Less than two weeks out from the climate summit in Belem, Geneva-based UN agencies, NGOs and civil society regulars scale back their delegations – squeezed by budget constraints and sky-high hotel prices. ➡️ https://l.genevasolutions.news/ND

The UN's trade and development flagship meeting wrapped up Thursday evening after ringing alarm bells over debt eroding development gains. The highlight: a new hub to tackle the crisis and pave the way for reform – but can it really get creditors to the table?

The head of UN’s nuclear watchdog IAEA Rafael Grossi is in Geneva this week. He talks about the role he has played in managing potential and past nuclear tipping points globally, and his ambitions for the UN’s top job.

China and Russia are actively trying to block UN rights scrutiny through obscure budget talks, according to an investigation by the @ishr.ch. The long-running manoeuvre now threatens to hollow out the UN human rights pillar amid a deepening financial crisis. ➡️ https://l.genevasolutions.news/sr

As the @unctad.bsky.social's quadrennial conference returns to Geneva, developing nations fight to preserve a robust mandate, while donor countries urge caution amid budget pressures and a shifting multipolar world.

As hope flickers that the Gaza ceasefire will stick this time, veteran mediators who have been here before warn that peace brokered after any war won’t last unless political and military talks advance together. ➡️ https://l.genevasolutions.news/cL

As Filippo Grandi prepares to step down after ten years at the helm, a high-stakes battle begins to lead the @unhcr.org through financial turmoil, growing political tensions and soaring global displacement. ✍️@michellelangrand.bsky.social ➡️ https://l.genevasolutions.news/jW

Appointed last April as director general of Gesda, EPFL professor and physicist Marilyne Andersen outlines the challenges the foundation that aims to anticipate the impact of future innovations faces ahead of its flagship conference this week. ➡️ https://l.genevasolutions.news/CR

A fragile ceasefire brings hope of relief to Gaza, but humanitarians warn it will mean little unless borders open and aid can flow unimpeded.

Money alone won’t save the multilateral system. We need a plan that tackles power imbalances, brings in the private sector and uses funds strategically to keep the system afloat, argues Erica Harper, head of research and policy studies at the @geneva-academy.ch.

Hamas may have accepted Donald Trump's plan – under duress –, yet the proposal's disregard for international law leaves Palestinians’ future up in the air, argues political scientist Riccardo Bocco. ➡️ https://l.genevasolutions.news/vW

Nine months after launching his campaign promise to crack down on migration, Trump is taking a swing at the UN asylum system. As countries meet this week in Geneva to discuss funding for refugee protection, what will the US rhetoric mean for international agencies? ✍️@pauladdobias.bsky.social

In Geneva to attend the Human Rights Council, Burundian women’s rights defender Marie Louise Baricako warns that her country is sinking deeper into crisis as the region teeters on the brink, urging the international community to push for a national dialogue. ➡️ https://l.genevasolutions.news/x2

Sustainable finance has hit a slump. To move past it, former US secretary of state John Kerry & other investors in Geneva for Building Bridges say the focus must shift from lofty ideals to tangible gains — for the planet and for people’s lives. ✍️@letemps.ch ➡️ https://l.genevasolutions.news/h0

As the UN rushes to come up with ideas to reboot the multilateral system, humanitarian leaders say they are ready to put plans in action, beating other sectors to the start line. ✍️@pauladdobias.bsky.social ➡️ https://l.genevasolutions.news/ay

Even after Israel delayed a compliance deadline for international NGOs working in Gaza, aid groups based in Geneva and beyond warn their future operations in the enclave remain precarious amid tightening restrictions and dire conditions on the ground. ➡️ https://l.genevasolutions.news/bT

European Union nations have asked the UN Human Rights Council to investigate international crimes and other serious violations in Afghanistan, answering a longstanding call from civil society. ✍️@michellelangrand.bsky.social ➡️ https://l.genevasolutions.news/TA

The ICJ's landmark opinion affirming that the climate crisis amounts to a human rights violation owes a great deal to years of human rights work in Geneva. As the Human Rights Council convenes, that work isn’t over, write Upasana Khatri and Francesca Mingrone, senior attorneys at @ciel.org

Delegations are mulling over the UN’s recent reform proposals as leaders gather in New York for the UN General Assembly at a historic, albeit existential moment for the organisation. ✍️@pauladdobias.bsky.social

Amid the chaos and a spiralling humanitarian crisis, rights campaigners worry that the DRC might be going down a dark path as international human rights commitments are sacrificed in the name of war. ✍️@michellelangrand.bsky.social ➡️ https://l.genevasolutions.news/oe