Good morning, this is Michelle. The ICRC’s announcement earlier this month that it would make deep cuts to its 2023 budget put the spotlight on an aid sector struggling from the economic fallout of Covid and the war in Ukraine. We asked young people who aspire to be the humanitarian workforce of tomorrow how this affects their plans.

In other news from Geneva, Qatar’s promises to improve human rights in the country after the World Cup to appease the international community have not been fully kept, and El Salvador’s war on gangs has the UN worried.

Michelle Langrand

29.03.2023

On our radar

Photo article

Youth Humanitarian Summit in Zurich, 25 March 2023. (Geneva Solutions/Irene Velicer)

Young humanitarians juggle interest versus engagement amid sector’s funding crisis. Last weekend, students and young professionals met with large and small aid organisations in Zurich at a youth conference organised by the Swiss-based Circle of Young Humanitarians. The event, sponsored by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), took place as aid groups are increasingly challenged by budgetary gaps.

Geneva Solutions (EN)

Here's what else is happening

⚽‘Legacy, what legacy?’ Fight goes on for migrant workers in Qatar 100 days after the World Cup. The football circus may have moved on, but many migrant workers have yet to enjoy what the UN called a “new era” in labour rights.
The Guardian (EN)
🧢 UN alarmed by arbitrary arrests in El Salvador gangs crackdown. Over 66,000 people have been arrested in a year since president Nayib Bukele declared a national state of emergency.
Barron's via AFP (EN)
🐬Group bans some trade with Mexico over endangered porpoise. Cites says trade in Mexican orchids and cacti should be banned amid the country’s failure to protect the vaquita marina.
AP News (EN)
⏰Pandemic accord talks to resume with call for more attention to one health, and less misinformation. Delegates will meet starting next Monday as they rush to submit text proposals by the 14 April deadline.
Health Policy Watch (EN)
🇮🇱 Israeli embassy in Switzerland closes in government protest. The diplomats have joined public staff in striking against judicial reform plans that have plunged the country into turmoil.
Swissinfo (EN)

🗓️Save the date!

Photo article

Russia-Ukraine war: what are the risks of escalation? One year since Russia invaded Ukraine, could the war extend beyond the country’s borders and should Vladimir Putin’s threats of using nuclear weapons be taken seriously? What does the future look like for Ukrainians who have fled the violence?

Geneva Solutions, in partnership with Le Temps and the Geneva Press Club, will debate these questions with Ukrainian ambassador to Switzerland Iryna Venediktova, the assistant high commissioner for protection with the UN Refugee Agency Gillian Triggs and other high-level experts and civil society actors at a panel on 4 April at Domaine de Penthes in Geneva.

Register for the event

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