A ground pass for UN headquarters in Geneva. (Geneva Solutions/Michelle Langrand)

A UN body is keeping NGOs locked out – states are pushing for reform. A technical body in charge of granting UN access to NGOs is accused of increasingly abusing its power to block certain organisations for political purposes. Some states are taking steps to reform the system, but the efforts are met with significant resistance.

🤝WTO’S BIG-ISH MEET. While the rest of town is packing its bags for the summer holidays, the World Trade Organization’s highest decision-making body in Geneva will get to work on Monday to try and make headway on some key long-running issues as well as another hot topic recently added to the agenda – WTO chief Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala’s second term.

Fish deal. Members of the general council, made up of representatives of all 166 countries, will attempt to finalise the second part of a long-awaited fisheries subsidies deal after holding intensive talks last week to try and resolve the final thorny issues.

📖Further reading: Race to the bottom: can countries strike a second deal to reel in fisheries subsidies?

Agri talks. Meanwhile Brazil is hoping to revive long-stalled talks over trade in agriculture by proposing a new roadmap for future negotiations for member states to adopt at the meeting. This depends on if it can get all countries on board after the African Group tabled its own separate proposal. Other holdouts could be Russia and India.

Another round for Ngozi? Okonjo-Iweala’s term in office ends in August next year and the African group of countries have asked her to run again, sending out a document urging the trade body to start the reappointment process early. The proposal, which was sent by Chad, has been added to the agenda of general council,, with Okonjo-Iweala yet to comment on whether she wants to run or not.

With the US elections in November and the prospect of Donald Trump returning to the White House in January, there’s an interest in trying to fast-track her reappointment and avoid any repeat of 2020, when Trump twice tried to block her from taking office. But there’s also a risk this move could create more friction with a future Trump administration that is already hostile to the WTO, one diplomat told Geneva Solutions. Overall, her reappointment is likely to have strong support among members keen to see her continue lead attempts to reform the troubled organisation.

🩸HIV-AIDS NEEDS YOU. New data released today will show that Aids can be decimated as a global health threat by 2030 if more funding and rights are acknowledged.

Pandemic crossroads. UNAids chief Winnie Byanyima, former US presidential medical advisor Anthony Fauci and other officials present in Munich for the 25th International Aids conference, will hear how the infectious disease is at a policy crossroads, where one bad turn may leave the pandemic on an upward curve.

📝REPORT TRACKER. On Wednesday, the Food and Agriculture Agency will publish its annual State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World Report, expected to reveal a sobering situation.

Last week the agency reported that nearly 282 million people face acute food insecurity in 59 countries. The crises are often triggered by man-made causes, such conflict, state fragility, climate change and economic shocks.

Conflict hit. In 2023, some 24 million additional people faced food insecurity in the 20 countries, including Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Haiti, Somalia, South Sudan, Syrian Arab Republic, Yemen, Gaza and Sudan, where protracted fighting has complicated access to food.

-Kasmira Jefford and Paula Dupraz-Dobias

Environmental activists of Break Free display a banner on the sidelines of the demonstration to reclaim people's sovereignty, dismantle corporate power and stop impunity, on the Place des Nations in front of the United Nations in Geneva, 23 October 2023. (Keystone/Salvatore Di Nolfi)

❝Ten years on, talks for a business and human rights treaty get new impetus. After ten years of division over negotiations for a legally binding agreement on business and human rights, states have to choose between one more decade of lip service or delivering on the demands of civil society, communities and businesses wishing to level the playing field, writes negotiations expert Jérôme Bellion-Jourdan.