Hello, this is Kasmira with your news highlights for July, which has been a busy month as organisations seek to wrap up negotiations before the summer break.
This is the case at the World Trade Organization, which faces an important test in the coming months both in closing the 22-year fisheries subsidies negotiations and the contentious vaccine patent waiver debate – although here, reports suggest members have made little headway.
In the human rights sphere, this month's focus started with the Human Rights Council and now turns to the Olympics, where many organisations are using the opportunity to draw attention to human rights issues in the host country, Japan.
And, when you return from holidays, will you be returning to the workplace or sticking to your home office? We quizzed Geneva organisations about their return to work policies and found that Covid-19 uncertainty still looms large. |
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This week in International Geneva
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Luciana Alvarado, of Costa Rica, took the knee in honour of Black Lives Matter during her floor routing in the women's artistic gymnastic qualifications at the Tokyo Olympics, 25 July, 2021. New IOC guidelines allow competitors to express their views on the “field of play” before the start of competition providing their act is not “disruptive”. (Credit: Keystone/AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
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🏅Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games puts sports and human rights in the spotlight.
As with previous Games, the human rights record of both the host country and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has come under scrutiny by many rights organisations. Is sports’ long-overdue human rights reckoning finally here? According to Geneva's Centre for Sport & Human Rights, acceptance of human rights norms in sport is growing, even if progress is slow.
Pip Cook (EN)
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Here's what else we're talking about
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🇺🇳 Are women’s rights being sidelined at the Human Rights Council?
At a time when women’s rights are in crisis around the world, many NGOs were left disappointed that members of the UN’s top human rights body did not go further to protect and advance these rights during its latest session.
Pip Cook (EN)
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🐟 WTO fish talks gain political momentum, but a deal remains elusive.
The WTO said a crucial ministerial meeting aimed at banning harmful fishing subsidies had paved the way towards forging an agreement later this year, but major differences still remain.
Kasmira Jefford (EN)
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💉 As Covid echoes Aids pandemic, Africa’s faith in Covax fails.
The global vaccine access facility, Covax, has only been able to deliver 25 million of the 700 million vaccines the African Union expected this year. This deep dive looks at where Covax went wrong.
Kerry Cullinan (EN)
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🗃️ Uncovering the black box of Geneva internships.
In September last year, Geneva introduced a new minimum wage, however, there are a few exceptions – including most internships. We look at how it is easy to get lost in the black box of International Geneva internships.
Nicolas Camut & Pokuaa Oduro-Bonsrah (EN)
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💥 Plans move ahead for even larger article collider to encircle Geneva.
CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, wants to build a house a new 100 km collider, dubbed the Future Circular Collider (FCC), underground to delve further into the workings of the universe.
Achintya Rao (EN)
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Marshall Islands Ambassador Doreen de Brum presents her credentials to the director general of the UN Office at Geneva, Michael Möller, in 2019. (Credit: UN Geneva/CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
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️🇲🇭 Mashall Islands' ‘fight for survival’.
At an average of two metres above sea level, the Marshall Islands is in danger of going under if temperatures continue to rise at this rate. On top of that, the radioactive fallout of the nuclear tests carried out on the islands during the last century has left a legacy of environmental and health impacts. Two years on since opening its mission in Geneva, Ambassador Doreen de Brum, speaks to Geneva Solutions about the island country's fight for nuclear and climate justice.
Michelle Langrand (EN)
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Credit: UNHCR
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Filippo Grandi: UN refugee convention a 'bedrock' for humanity.
In the seven decades since the 1951 Refugee Convention was created, people from all corners of the globe have been forced to flee their homes, with the number of forcibly displaced people hitting 82.4 million last year. The UN high commissioner for refugees explains why the “bedrock of international protection” for displaced people must be defended now more than ever.
Geneva Solutions (EN)
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