Good morning, this is Michelle. The Human Rights Council sometimes sheds light on some of the world’s most neglected crises.

Burundi is one of them. As the ruling party tightens its grip on power amid stifling dissent, poverty and rising regional volatility, Marie Louise Baricako, a women’s rights leader attending the UN rights meeting in Geneva, calls on international actors to pressure the government to engage in a national dialogue.

03.10.2025

On our radar

Marie Louise Baricako, a women’s rights activist from Burundi, in Geneva for the Human Rights Council (Geneva Solutions/Michelle Langrand)

Marie Louise Baricako recalls the Arusha negotiations with a mixture of pride and sorrow. In the late 1990s, she pushed for women to have a seat at the table in the talks aimed at ending Burundi’s inter-ethic civil war – and yet, 25 years on, much of the agreement’s promises remain unfulfilled.

Baricako, now 73, travelled to Geneva for the Human Rights Council, where countries were set to debate abuses in Burundi. The country has slipped into a spiral of political repression, ethnic tensions and economic decline, with women bearing the brunt while remaining excluded from power. “If women are left out, Burundi will keep losing,” she says. “How can you hope to develop when 52 per cent of your population are left aside?”

Read the full story on Geneva Solutions.

For the record

🌍POPE VS CLIMATE DENIALISTS. A week after US president Donald Trump called climate activists “the greatest con job” in the world, in his UNGA speech, Pope Leo criticised those who “ridicule those who speak of global warming”.

Why it matters. Ahead of the Cop30 climate conference in Brazil, Leo has embraced his predecessor, Pope Francis’ environmental legacy which included holding a synod for the Amazon.

The first US-born pontiff meanwhile wields spiritual influence over American Catholics and may represent a significant counterweight to Trump’s influence and conservative policies, including on migration.

He asked people around the world to pressure politicians to take action against the environmental crisis. One in six people in the world is a Catholic.

Here’s what else is happening

🚫A no-confidence motion at World Health Organization: the real crisis is leadership. An employee at the UN agency writes about how the financial crisis is affecting the organisation, just as its staff union delivers a no-confidence vote against director general Tedros Adhanom Gebreysus.
Geneva Health Files (EN)
☮UN rights chief urges Lebanon ceasefire to be upheld as Israeli strikes continue. Volker Türk condemned Israeli attacks on residential areas and near UN peacekeepers.
Reuters (EN)
🇺🇳How the UN is navigating diplomacy, international law and humanitarian aid in Gaza. In spite of nearly 160 countries recognising the state of Palestine as of the UN General Assembly last week, the UN has been largely marginalised in the conflict.
Swissinfo (EN)
💸UN budget cuts spark fears of job losses in Cyprus. Staff at the UN good offices in the divided nation may be reduced by as much as 40 per cent.
Cyprus Mail (EN)

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