Ukrainian ambassador Yevheniia Filipenko at a press conference organised by the Association of Accredited Correspondents at the United Nations on 19 February 2024. (Geneva Solutions/Michelle Langrand)Ukrainian ambassador Yevheniia Filipenko at a press conference organised by the Association of Accredited Correspondents at the United Nations on 19 February 2024. (Geneva Solutions/Michelle Langrand)

🇺🇦Two years into war, Ukraine seeks to galvanise support at UN rights body. Coming on the heels of the second anniversary of Russia’s invasion, the Human Rights Council’s upcoming session is poised to be a litmus test for Ukraine. Kyiv will have to convince countries to leave politics outside the room as it tries to rally support.

🕊️Former ICRC president, Cornelio Sommaruga, dies at 91. Humanitarianism and International Geneva have lost one of their emblematic representatives after Sommaruga, president of the International Committee of the Red Cross from 1987 to 1999, died on Sunday in Geneva.

🚧 Don’t just blame the US; India is blocking WTO reform too. As the global trade body counts down to its 13th ministerial meeting in Abu Dhabi at the end of February, New Delhi has re-escalated its confrontational rhetoric and is opposing progress on several issues.

🚰 As cholera surges, WHO publishes safe drinking water guidelines. For the first time in almost 30 years, the health body has issued guidelines for small operators that provide vital supplies for billions of people in an attempt to stem the spread of the water-borne disease.

🔎Red Cross reports 23,000 people missing from Ukraine war. Over the past two years, the ICRC has received more than 115,000 tracing requests from families in Ukraine and Russia, the Geneva-based organisation said in a statement on Monday.

🇸🇩Opinion: Sudan’s collapse is a test for the international community. We are failing it. Since April 2023, close to eight million people have fled their homes while nearly 25m need humanitarian assistance. Yet Sudan remains invisible to the global community, write the leaders of some of the world’s top aid organisations in a call for action.