International Geneva in Crisis: Where do we go from here?

UNESCO is just the latest of the UN family to lose its US support. The pillars of international cooperation are crumbling, and nowhere is this more starkly visible than in Switzerland’s Lake Geneva region whose key city has long branded itself not only as the humanitarian capital of the world, but one of the planet’s leading knowledge hubs.

PART I

Once a vibrant nerve centre for multilateral diplomacy, humanitarian response, environmental action and credible information, Geneva is facing an existential crisis which urgently needs to be resolved with significant out-of-the-box thinking. U.S. funding cuts, donor fatigue, and internal inefficiencies are steadily dismantling Switzerland's hub of UN agencies, NGOs, and research bodies that constitute "International Geneva."

This unique ‘ecosystem’ network includes multinational corporations and businesses, among them some of the world’s leading watch companies (See Global Geneva article). Major American firms such as Proctor & Gamble, a consumer goods company, Dupont which produces chemicals, and Caterpillar, engineering, all have their European operations based out of Geneva precisely because of the presence of the city’s several hundred international organizations and NGOs.

“This creates a snowball effect that benefits the entire region. But the reverse could happen if some start leaving,” maintains Fabrice Eggly, director of the Fondation de Geneve.

Both Swiss and internationals must now decide what to do if this critical hub is to retain if not further cultivate its global importance because time is running out. Those concerned must focus on issues that matter. This involves responding more effectively to humanitarian response, human rights abuses and the need for conflict resolution in war zones such as Sudan, Gaza, Ukraine, and Burma (Myanmar).

It also means combatting climate change worldwide. The landmark decision on 23 July 2025 by the UN’s top court in the Hague allowing countries to sue over historic emissions of planet-warming gases will prove pointless unless this translates into concrete action. While non-binding and more than likely to be ignored by Trump administration in Washington, the ruling by the International Court of Justice could nevertheless have wide-ranging consequences with international Geneva playing a key role. (See Global Geneva article on the need to reclaim relevance)

Refugees fleeing Israeli Defense Force bombing in Gaza.

OCHA

Massive job slashing irrespective of quality

According to a recent Geneva Solutions report, over 30,000 jobs, both UN and NGO, of the International Geneva community are expected to go. More than 20,000 jobs, both full time and consultancies, are being eliminated across the UN system alone. This contraction, driven to a major degree by the UN80 initiative launched in March 2025, is the largest workforce reduction in the UN’s modern history.

What initially began as a gradual world-wide efficiency drive, UN80 has now turned into a sledge-hammer approach for reducing budgets with, in many cases, devastating consequences. It is leading to tens of thousands of humanitarian and development professionals losing their jobs at a time when conflicts, such as Gaza, Ukraine and Sudan, are growing steadily worse, and climate change action has become a global concern.

WFP aid workers providing food relief in West and Central Africa.

WFP

Aid workers scrambling for jobs

These losses mean that thousands are now scrambling for new, highly competitive jobs, whether in Switzerland or abroad. For many, however, it is not a normal situation. Many organizations simply do not know their budgets and are unable to plan properly leaving both employees and consultants in limbo.

Career counselling firms such as Transition and Performance are advising international workers not to wait until they know whether they have lost their jobs or not, but to begin planning their next career moves. “People right now are not really taking action or looking for something else because they first wish to make sure that they will be impacted,” maintained the firm’s career coach Guillaume Stollsteiner. “The uncertainty is what is most painful to them.”

It also means a change in mindset. Social media sites such as LinkedIn are replete with urgent job-hunting initiatives although many employment opportunities never even make it online but spread word of mouth. For many consultants wishing to remain in country, it also suddenly means losing their legal right to remain living in Switzerland where they have houses or send their children to school.

“I had three possible contracts lined up and they literally disappeared overnight,” said one health specialist, who was obliged to leave the country as an unemployed person. Local businesses and institutions ranging from international schools to apartment rentals are worried that both the Lake Geneva and Swiss economy could be badly hit within a matter of months.

Swiss parliament in Bern: International Geneva is often viewed as 'off the map' by many in German-speaking Switzerland.

Swiss Tourism

International Switzerland: A leading knowledge, science and cultural hub - but for how long?

Bern – but also other parts of the country, notably the German-speaking north – often fail to understand the importance of Switzerland and International Geneva as a global “knowledge and cultural hub” whether for the arts, sciences and health. Geneva is often better known abroad than Switzerland itself, yet, many of these invaluable assets are spread across the country. (See Global Geneva article on Switzerland as a Knowledge Hub) Journalistically, too, International Geneva remains crucial as a global source for reliable information and Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Originally billed as a reform for efficiency, UN80 has evolved into a generalised downsizing not necessarily responding to the actions needed to ensure a better and more responsive international Geneva.

The World Health Organization: Another UN agency in need of reform, but one which has a crucial role to play worldwide. WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus at the BRICS Leaders' Summit in Rio de Janeiro.

Photo: Karina Zambrana, WHO

The UN system: The need to focus on what works while getting rid of the bad

According to some analysts, the UN could probably function far more effectively as a smaller and more fine-tuned world-wide operation. Yet much of the current or proposed downsizing has little to do with quality efficiency. Rather than focus on programmes and personnel worth keeping, far too many proposed UN ‘reforms’ reward incompetence or inside preferences rather than embrace cuts designed to eliminate inefficiencies and duplication. It would also make sense to merge certain operations as a means of reducing overall administrative costs.

The UN system notoriously suffers from a lot of wastage. Some humanitarian initiatives, too, have significantly expanded over the past decade but are no longer needed. Yet they have continued to remain funded with some directors unwilling to see them disappear.

Up to 25 percent of UN employees considered useless

Some sectors funded by Swiss and international donors consist of significant amounts of ‘dead wood,’ notably employees and consultants who contribute little or who milk the system for themselves but make little difference in overall performance.

As some policymakers have long suggested, the UN would do well to get rid of them. This includes certain politically appointed old guard directors. The international community would be far better served if the UN sought to retain skilled professionals, who bear the bulk of the operative and research burden. Once highly experienced operatives leave the system they will be difficult to replace.

As one UN agency director candidly pointed out: “We can safely say that a good 25 percent of our employees make little or no difference at all, yet they have continued to work in Geneva enjoying high salaries and other benefits.” 

For good or for bad, agencies like UNAIDS are slashing headquarters staff from 127 to just 19 employees although as some observers have long pointed it, it would make far more sense to roll all remaining UNAIDS programmes into the World Health Organization (WHO) and other institutions. With current cuts, HIV/AIDS is already growing worse with slowdowns of life-saving HIV medicines and prevention services to millions of people who depend on them. Nevertheless, UNAIDS could arguably be integrated into WHO to reduce costs, say some health experts.

Vaccination programmes of children remain vital worldwide. US cuts are undermining such assistance.

Photo: GAVI

Another Swiss-based agency, Gavi, a world-wide vaccine alliance, recently laid off 155 full-time Geneva staffers despite concerns that amongst key global issues, the need to retain if not expand vaccination programmes worldwide remains crucial.

Other reductions are expected to inflict dire consequences on the ability of refugees and other victims of war to survive, such as the slashing of food programmes in Sudan. The World Food Programme, which is based in Rome, faces a 40 per cent drop in funding, much of it the result of the United States pullout of its $300 million commitment. The UN’s Office for Humanitarian Assistance (OCHA), a crucial operation for aiding victims of war and other related crises, expects to witness a 20 per cent loss by January 2026 at a time when international relief is more vital than ever to the survival of millions of crisis-affected civilians.

The Canton of Geneva is seeking to respond with additional finance.

Photo: Swiss EDA government.

Grappling for solutions in response to U.S. withdrawal and donor apathy

The Canton of Geneva has intervened in an unprecedented way, establishing a CHF 50 million foundation to support transformation in international organizations with an additional CHF 10 million emergency grant to help NGOs retain staff. Yet even this may not be enough to offset the fallout. Nor does the channelling of replacement funding necessarily mean a solution to the overall problem. There needs to be a genuine thinking out of the box as to the real purpose – and need – for an effective International Geneva.

The unravelling of International Geneva, or International Switzerland as some prefer to call it given that various international NGOs, such as the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), MercyShips and MedAir, are based outside of Geneva and even neighbouring France, such as Interpol, cannot be separated from geopolitical realities.

The Trump administration, now in its second term, has withdrawn from the Human Rights Council, World Health Organization (WHO) – some US government representatives would like to see WHO completely shut down - and now, as of 22 July 2025, UNESCO. According to US State Department spokesperson, Tammy Bruce, a former Fox Television commentator, “continued involvement in UNESCO is not in the national interest of the United States.”

Similarly, US officials at the Geneva-based World Meteorological Organization (WMO), some clearly embarrassed by Washington’s new position, have been instructed to disallow any references to climate change. “It has become a complete travesty,” noted one western scientist at a recent high-level WMO meeting.

US President Donald Trump is seeking to dismantle much of the UN.

Photo: AEI/Thiessen

Trump: A nine-billion-dollar foreign aid clawback

In mid-July 2025, the U.S. Senate passed a $9 billion foreign aid clawback, eliminating $8 billion contributions to key UN agencies including UNICEF and the UN Development Programme (UNDP), plus an additional $1.1 billion destined for the Corporation of Public Broadcasting, which describes itself as a "private foundation funded by the American people."

For years, Trump has been calling for the closure of public broadcasting because of its alleged “left-wing” tendencies. This now eliminated funding has traditionally helped finance both National Public Radio (NPR) and Public Television (PBS), often the only source of credible information and early warning in the case of disasters such as floods and wildfires in many parts of the United States. With so much disinformation and misinformation, credible journalism is more important than ever not only for people's well-being but the survival of democracy.

All this comes on top of $1.5 billion in unpaid U.S. dues to the UN for both past dues and the current fiscal year.

But Washington is not the only one to not meet its obligations. Last year, 41 out of the UN’s 193 member nations failed to contribute on time. China, the world’s second-largest global economy, has traditionally paid late leading to significant operational difficulties, and yet Beijing has managed to place its operatives in key positions throughout the UN system. Voluntary donations to relief organizations are also dropping.

China is late with its contributions to the UN, but has been steadily expanding its presence with the system.

Photo: Chinese government.

A highly parochial view of the world

The American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank influential in U.S. foreign policy, acknowledges the UN’s strategic value but believes that Americans should ensure greater efficiency for their own U.S.-centric priorities. This parochial perspective is echoed by Jeffrey Bartos, now representing the U.S. in UN budget talks: "American taxpayer dollars going to the UN should advance our national interest and make our country safer."

As a NPR commentator noted in early July, 2025: “The fact that US security cannot necessarily be divorced from situations elsewhere on the planet is ignored.” So is the fact, as others maintain, that philanthropic giving has long been a time-honoured American tradition which the Trump administration has now firmly undermined.

Geneva’s reliance on U.S. funding, which has accounted for roughly 22 per cent of the UN’s core budget - has left it exposed virtually overnight. European donors, meanwhile, are shifting development budgets toward military spending in response to the war in Ukraine, leaving gaps that no other nations are stepping in to fill.

Institutional drift, inefficiency, and political paralysis

Beyond funding, structural problems plague the UN system and its partners. Political appointments still dominate leadership positions, undermining meritocracy. Efforts at reform by Secretary-General António Guterres are widely seen as ineffective or half-hearted.

The once-promising "One UN" model, introduced by Kofi Annan to streamline operations, has been largely abandoned. Agencies continue to operate in silos, and often with duplication, and many with bloated administrative costs. “There’s a lot of talk about reform, but little action,” one panellist said at a recent conference organized by Global Geneva Group, a Swiss non-profit media and education association. “Unless there’s decisive leadership, International Geneva will drift into mediocrity.”

A Fraying Ecosystem

The impact of this crisis extends beyond the confines of UN agencies. Geneva’s local economy - its restaurants, hotels, taxi services, and real estate - depends heavily on the international sector, which supports over 220,000 jobs directly or indirectly, according to the Fondation pour Genève.

And yet, Bern’s support has been tepid, with the Federal Council only recently approving a CHF 269 million stabilization package, after pressure from Geneva-based stakeholders.

Geneva's identity is tied to its unique mix of multilateral institutions, scientific research bodies, and policy think tanks - a configuration that risks unravelling. Without strong intervention, its influence could erode irreversibly.

The UN General Assembly in New York.

Photo: UN

Relevance at Risk

With the 80th UN General Assembly in New York approaching (9-23 September 2025), observers warn that Geneva’s moral and operational authority in global affairs will continue to unwind unless more prompt action is taken. The International Red Cross, both the International Committee and Federation of Red Cross Societies, MSF, and other Geneva-based institutions still carry weight, but younger institutions are struggling to assert relevance.

"International Geneva needs to de-westernize," said Tarak Bach Baouab of Médecins Sans Frontières International at its headquarters in Geneva. “It must adopt more inclusive, flexible, and locally-driven models to meet today’s complex challenges.” As the world’s largest medical NGO, MSF is not reliant on government donors for its funding given that overwhelming bulk comes from individual contributors.

Sophie Tholstrup of Ground Truth Solutions, a Vienna-based NGO, adds: “Aid agencies must shift from institutional survival to demand-driven operations rooted in local context. Cookie-cutter solutions don’t work anymore.”

Existential Questions

With some U.S. lawmakers are even calling for withdrawal from the UN Charter and an end to diplomatic immunities for UN Headquarters in New York, a dramatic relocation of global institutions is not unthinkable. Could Geneva, the second-largest UN hub, rise to take the lead? Or will it become a nostalgic footnote of 20th-century multilateralism?

“Nature abhors a vacuum,” added Fondation de Geneve’s Eggly. “If the U.S. steps back, other nations - China, India, Brazil - will step in.” Yet, without visionary leadership, Geneva may simply become a casualty of geopolitical entropy.

Edward Girardet is a Geneva-based foreign correspondent and author. He has reported conflict, humanitarian and environmental issues worldwide for more than 40 years. A specialist on international Switzerland and UN-related issues, he is a founder of HelpSaveTheMed, a multimedia and educational initiative designed to highlight threats – and solutions – facing the Greater Mediterranean, both on land and at sea, and the world's oceans.