Our first article explored the extent of Switzerland’s “International Geneva” crisis. Part II sees how this could be turned into opportunity. Geneva can still reassert itself as a relevant global hub.
Our first article laid bare the extent of Switzerland’s “International Geneva” crisis. Part II explores how adversity could be turned into opportunity. Despite widespread layoffs and structural drift, Geneva can still reassert itself as a pragmatic, efficient, and relevant global hub. But this will require courageous leadership, meaningful reform, and smarter collaboration across the public, private, and academic sectors.
The response to our recent articles on International Geneva have revealed widespread concern, among both Swiss nationals and expatriates, about the present and future role of this exceptional international community. Switzerland risks losing thousands of highly skilled professionals laid off from Geneva-based UN agencies and NGOs due to global funding cuts and restructuring.
Many, too, are unhappy about the way the UN has proceeded with the current crisis. On Thursday, 24 July 2025, some 600 members of the UN’s Geneva Staff Union massively condemned the manner with which UN80 has been applied maintaining that it was done in “a panic and with no evaluation of earlier reforms.” They also declared a complete “no confidence” in UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and his Under Secretary General, Guy Ryder, current head of WIPO in Geneva.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has got more than just little problem - The UN's survival is at stake
Photo: UN
The fallout on other sectors, such as apartment rentals and local businesses, is already visible. “We are already seeing indications of a drop in house prices in the Geneva area,” noted one Lake Geneva lawyer. “Flat rentals have always been a tight market, but the overall situation may open up with people cancelling their leases.”
Many of these expatriates have lived in Switzerland for years and are deeply integrated into its international ecosystem. The challenge now is how to retain these professionals as visa and residency rules may force them to leave the country.
International Geneva is not just the UN - but also corporations such as the new Banque Odier headquarters.
Photo: Banque Odier.
Geneva is home to over 220,000 jobs linked to the international sector, with a significant portion of those workers residing in the canton of Vaud or in neighbouring France. The loss of such qualified professionals undermines both Geneva’s and Switzerland’s global standing.
Many are multilingual, mission-driven, and experienced in diplomacy, humanitarian aid, health, science, and policy, all sectors essential to Switzerland’s role as a global convener. Without effective action, their departure represents a long-term brain drain at a moment when multilateralism and global cooperation are under threat.
EPFL - The Swiss Technology Institute of Lausanne overlooking Lake Geneva and the Alps
Photo: EPFL
Based on reporting and interviews, Global Geneva proposes six possible approaches to help International Geneva reinvent itself for a new era. These would enable both Geneva and Switzerland to continue benefitting from the city’s global stature as a hub for knowledge, humanitarian work, and diplomacy. They would also allow Switzerland to retain top-tier professionals who can contribute to national priorities such as research, innovation, education, and global engagement.
Even more crucial - given that countries such as the United States, Japan, and Hungary are increasingly restrictive toward foreign professionals - such a strategy would signal a forward-looking migration policy that values impact-driven, globally connected individuals.
As Geneva-based career coach Guillaume Stollsteiner noted: “These professionals are mission-driven, multilingual, and globally networked. They represent a huge asset to Switzerland’s innovation and economic dynamism.”
Burmese refugees in Bangladesh: Has UN become too top-heavy for its global responsibilities?
Photo: UN.
UN agencies and NGOs must make tough choices: trim bloated bureaucracies, eliminate overlapping mandates, and prioritize performance. Consolidating underperforming agencies could save hundreds of millions of dollars. Reforms must be guided by rigorous performance audits and a commitment to retaining only the most competent professionals.
As one participant at a June event on International Geneva put it (See Global Geneva article on reclaiming relevance): “We need to get rid of the deadwood. Keep the best. Let go of the rest.”
In an era of deliberate misinformation, trusted journalism is one of the few remaining defenses against manipulation. This is where International Geneva could lead, especially as quality media like NPR in the U.S. struggle to survive against government cuts, and responsible news organizations and journalists around the world, often despite efforts by certain regimes to stifle their voices, are seeking to provide the sort of quality content that people need to make informed decisions.
From climate change to conflict reporting, credible information is as vital as food or medical relief. One need only recall how Boris Johnson pushed Brexit by weaponizing falsehoods, or how Cambridge Analytica and Facebook misused personal data for political manipulation.
International Geneva institutions, such as ICRC and MSF, are closely monitoring atrocities in Gaza, yet the Netanyahu government continues to deny Israeli and international journalists full access. By keeping the press out, it undermines independent reporting on civilian casualties. In Russia, Vladimir Putin continues to deploy a well-oiled propaganda machine to justify the war in Ukraine.
Russia's ongoing war in Ukraine.
Photo: ICRC
Donald Trump, meanwhile, has routinely relied on misinformation to promote everything from climate denial to anti-immigration rhetoric. Even after fact-checking, up to 70% of his claims, such as recently asserting that the U.S. pays “almost 100%” of NATO’s costs (the actual figure is closer to 4%), prove false.
The same goes for manipulation on platforms like Instagram and TikTok, where children as young as 11 face bullying, isolation, and depression due to misinformation and peer pressure.
Given its role in AI (with platforms like as AI for Good), Geneva is well-placed to champion trusted journalism and digital literacy. Switzerland should spearhead an independent Global Fund for Public Interest Journalism, involving responsible foundations, governments, and tech firms. This would finance journalism that amplifies Geneva’s voice on key global issues from pandemics to polarization.
As many argue, Switzerland must treat journalism as a public good, just like education or humanitarian aid.
To remain globally relevant, International Geneva must align with today’s priorities: climate resilience, AI governance, pandemic preparedness, environmental protection, migration, human rights awareness and youth empowerment.
Partnerships already exist: GESDA (Geneva) science and diplomacy,ETH(Zurich) - EPFL (Lausanne), both engineering, science and tech innovation), IUCN (conservation), Mountain Research Initiative(mountains)and AGORA (cancer research).
The Alps serve as the "water tower" of Europe and the Mediterranean.
Photo: WSL/Swiss Federal government
Switzerland’s role as Europe’s “water tower” through the Alps feeding the Rhône, Po, and other major rivers underlines its ecological relevance to the Mediterranean. The Rhône River, from Lake Geneva to the Camargue, is also a major flyway for migratory birds en route to Africa.
Geneva’s institutions must better integrate this geographic and ecological identity into their global messaging.
Thousands of jobless professionals represent a brain trust at risk of dispersal. Geneva must keep them.
Organization such as Transition and Performance (TnP) and CAGI(Geneva’s welcome centre for internationals) are already helping expatriate staff pivot into the Swiss private sector, but this support must be expanded.
Policies should include: extended temporary residency and work permits for laid-off professionals with a minimum of three years’ experience in Switzerland or recognized international fieldwork; support for integration (e.g. language skills, Swiss schooling, local residency); and recognition of freelance or self-employment potential in key Swiss sectors (climate, AI, media, health, etc.).
Additional proposals: prioritize local hiring over international recruitment; provide tax/subsidy incentives for firms hiring skilled internationals; maintain access to international schools, with financial aid for affected families; allow children living in France to attend Geneva schools; offer medical insurance and psychological support for displaced workers.
The University of Geneva. A crucial part of International Geneva.
Photo: UNIGE
NGOs, UN agencies, foundations, startups, and Swiss universities need tighter coordination. Collaborative innovation labs, co-funded by donors and hosted at EPFL, European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), orUniversity of Geneva, can break silos and speed up field-tested solutions. Geneva can accelerate applied approaches to global problems.
Innovative financing is key. Arthur Wood of Total Impact Capital promotes integrated finance by leveraging pension funds and philanthropic capital to drive systemic change. Switzerland has over 7,000 foundations, plus corporate donor arms. “There’s no shortage of money - just poor coordination,” Wood notes.
Geneva must also look to the future through young people. Switzerland should create structured internship and volunteer programmes as part of International Geneva, with living stipends, visa flexibility, and inclusion of young migrants or refugees.
This isn’t charity: it’s long-term investment.
Geneva cannot carry this burden alone. Bern, Zurich, Lausanne, and Basel must stop treating it as a diplomatic outpost and invest more imaginatively in its success. A nationwide public diplomacy campaign led by the Swiss government should showcase what International Switzerland contributes to the world.
One strong proposal: Geneva Council President Nathalie Fontanet’s call for a global summit on the future of multilateralism could catalyze public and political momentum, but should involve a mix of private sector, international organizations, journalists and academics. It should perhaps include neighbouring France not only because 110,000 ‘frontaliers’ work in Geneva, but because “international Geneva” should involve cities like Lyons – 112 kilometers from Geneva – where organizations such as Interpol, the International Criminal Police Organization, are based.
International Geneva can no longer rely solely on moral authority or historical prestige. Its future must be earned through creativity, reform, clarity of mission, and real-world relevance. If it can adapt, it may not only survive this present conundrum, but lead a new era of practical, principle-based global cooperation.
But time is running out.
Edward Girardet is a Geneva-based foreign correspondent and author. He has reported on 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 highlighting threats - and solutions - facing the Greater Mediterranean and the world’s oceans.