Good morning, this is Kasmira and today we’re looking ahead to UN rights chief Michelle Bachelet’s upcoming trip to China and the high stakes at play. Geneva’s GESDA Foundation will hold its week-long gathering for “future science and diplomacy leaders” at the Palais des Nations this Week.

And we’re casting our eye back to the Geneva Health Forum earlier this month when we spoke to the founder of one of India’s newest innovation labs. Plus, in our Ukraine Stories blog today, how one man made a lucky escape after being shot at by Russian soldiers in his village near Bucha.

16.05.2022

On our radar

Michelle Bachelet at the High Level Segment of 49th Regular Session of Human Rights Council. (Credit: UN Photo/Jean Marc Ferré)

🇨🇳 Bachelet’s risky trip to China. First, there was Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. At the start of the pandemic, the WHO chief was accused of being too close to China, after praising it for its “speed”, “efficiency” and “transparency” in handling Covid-19. Now another UN agency boss is under heavy scrutiny. Michelle Bachelet is flying out before the end of the month to China's Xinjiang province – a risky visit that puts her credibility at stake, according to Geneva’s human rights community. The high commissioner rebuts the claims.

Geneva Solutions (EN)

Here's what else is happening

⛰️ WEF 2022: Zelensky to deliver virtual speech on the opening day of the Davos conference on 23 May.
Bloomberg (EN)
☠️ UN unaware of any biological weapons programmes in Ukraine, as Security Council considers new claims by Russia.
Reliefweb (EN)
🇺🇳 Israel: UN rights chief calls for end to ‘culture of impunity’ in the wake of the killing of Al Jazeera correspondent Shireen Abu Akleh.
UN News (EN)
❓ WTO Ministerial Conference: Upcoming trade meeting a chance for WTO to prove it’s still relevant.
The Hill (EN)
🎧 McKay Interview: Martin Chungong, IPU secretary general and moderator as this week’s GESDA conference on what links his organisation to science diplomacy event.
WRS (EN)
🇺🇦 Ukraine Stories #Week13: 'they both started shooting at us' - man recounts lucky escape from Russian attack.
Geneva Solutions (EN)

With our partners

Vaibhav Chhabra at the Take Care Festival in Geneva. (Credit: Aylin Elci)

🔬 The engineer behind India’s first fab lab for health. The Covid-19 pandemic revealed the limitations of the health industry. Indian engineer Vaibhav Chhabra, who attended the Geneva Health Forum, wants to harness people’s ability to make, create and innovate collectively to surpass the sector's challenges. This article was produced as part of a paid partnership with GHF.

Geneva Solutions (EN)

Also on the agenda

📌 16-20 May | GESDA Science Diplomacy Week. A week-long conference aimed at advancing diplomacy in science, and launched by a coalition of organisations, UN agencies and Swiss academic institutions, will kick off in Geneva today. Initiated by the GESDA foundation, “the immersion programme and open forum for current and future science and diplomacy leaders” will be held at the Palais des Nations and includes workshops, dialogues and open lectures.

GESDA (EN)

📌 16- 1 July | Disarmament Conference. The second of the three-part Conference on Disarmament kicks off today, with Cuba continuing its presidency until 28 May when North Korea will take over. Running until 16 September, the CD is the only multilateral forum to bring all countries that possess nuclear weapons together with non-nuclear possessing states to discuss issues such as nuclear disarmament, fissile materials, prevention of an arms race in outer space. UNODA

UNODA (EN)

For more events, visit the Genève Internationale website.

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Have a good day!

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