Daily Brief logo

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.

photo journaliste

Kasmira Jefford

29.07.2021


This week in International Geneva


Photo article

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)

🏅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)

💼 Within International Geneva, a gradual return to the workplace. Around the Place des Nations, International Geneva is slowly coming back to life. However, with only progressive plans to return to the office, it is still far from buzzing with activity. Geneva Solutions surveyed major organisations with similar results: in most places, the majority of staff are still working from home.

Nicolas Camut (EN)

Here's what else we're talking about


Interview of the month


Photo article

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)

️🇲🇭 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)

Milestones


Photo article

Credit: UNHCR

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)

GS news is a new media project covering the world of international cooperation and development. Don’t hesitate to forward our newsletter!

Have a good day!

Avenue du Bouchet 2
1209 Genève
Suisse