Sébastien Garcia, whose family owns Spanish-French fusion restaurant on rue de Lausanne, says business has fallen since widespread layoffs at international organisations in Geneva. (Geneva Solutions/Magali Girardin)

Local businesses weather the effects of international Geneva cuts. For nearly two years, restaurants, hotels, and other parts of the local economy have grappled with the effects of international Geneva job and budget cuts, particularly around the Nations quarter. Two publicly backed studies are now seeking to quantify the losses.

⚖️FUTURE ON THE BALANCE. The board of UNAids meets today to decide how to save the UN agency leading the fight against Aids, after sweeping US aid cuts last year left it dangerously short on cash, forcing it to shrink its workforce by more than half and relocate most of its Geneva-based staff to cheaper duty stations.

Facing pressure to cut costs, the UN secretary general António Guterres initially proposed shutting down UNAids and distributing its work among other UN agencies. But the idea sparked outcry from the agency itself, the community it serves and the board that oversees it.

Staying alive. The board is set to consider a final report and plan of the PCB Working Group on the further transition and integration of UNAIDS into the UN system and beyond the report on the agency’s future that appears to rule out the most radical option, instead suggesting other ways to streamline the organisation while largely preserving it.

In numbers. The board will also discuss the a projected core budget of $60 million for 2027 – down from $150m in 2025.

👉To know more, read our past reporting: Sunset or new dawn? UNAids fights for survival

🚢STEADYING THE SHIP. The International Organization for Migration’s outlook also appears to be stabilising after a bruising year in which it saw nearly a third of its budget vanish.

Its finance committee meets on Thursday and Friday to scrutinise the agency’s budgetary outlook. For 2027, the IOM’s overall budget is set to edge up modestly to $3.15 billion, even as it projects a further drop in funding for its humanitarian operations.

— Michelle Langrand