On 28 July 2026, the Geneva Refugee Convention turned 75. Its enduring relevance is particularly evident in light of the record numbers of people forcibly displaced worldwide.
Although the global fight against HIV/AIDS has made remarkable epidemiological and medical progress, its political, financial, and institutional foundations are coming under increas...
Article I(2) of the 1969 OAU Refugee Convention is the ‘most influential conceptual standard of refugee status apart from the [1951] Convention definition itself’.
On Sunday, 14 June 2026, Swiss voters and cantons delivered a clear verdict on the Swiss People's Party's (SVP) initiative to cap Switzerland's resident population at 10 million.
On 14 June, Switzerland will vote on the Swiss People’s Party’s (SVP) 10-million initiative. The SVP aims to strictly limit the population through this measure.
Freedom, justice and solidarity are the basic principles underlying the work of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS). The KAS is a political foundation, closely associated with the Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU).
Multipod: WHO macht Fortschritte bei internationalen Gesundheitsvorschriften
Die Covid-Pandemie hat auch auf internationaler Ebene Folgen. Erfahren Sie, wie die Weltgesundheitsorganisation (WHO) und ihre Mitgliedstaaten sich besser für die Zukunft wappnen.
Norbert Lammert on the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
"Human rights are not laws of nature. [...], they must be protected & defended by people who take the claim to the inviolability of human dignity seriously".
Multipod: Review of Germany in the UPR
Multipod: Human rights protection starts at home. Germany in the UPR
On 9th November 2023, the United Nation's Human Rights Council discussed the human rights situation in Germany
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Genfreise
Geneva Security Debate zum Krieg in der Ukraine
Prof. Dr. Lammert, Botschafter Dr. Heusgen und Botschafter Greminger zu den Auswirkungen des Krieges in der Ukraine auf den Multilateralismus und die Weltordnung
Delegationsreise
Dialogprogramm des Arbeitskreises Globale Gesundheit der Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung in Genf
Erfahren Sie mehr über die Delegationsreise zu aktuellen Herausforderungen im Bereich Globale Gesundheit vom 7-9. Juni
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Current publications
UN Women/Sayed Habib Bidell
75th anniversary of the 1951 Refugee Convention: Insights from the UNHCR Global Trends report
The "Geneva Telegram" explores events in Geneva-based multilateral organizations on a current topic. This time, the focus is on the 75th anniversary of the 1951 Refugee Convention, ...
Sarah Ultes
July 28, 2026
Geneva Telegram
U.S. Mission / Eric Bridiers / flickr / CC BY-ND 2.0
PABS Annex to the WHO Pandemic Agreement: IGWG7 brings competing System Models on the Table
The "Geneva Telegram" explores events in Geneva-based multilateral organizations on a current topic. This time, the focus is on the negotiations on the Pandemic Agreement.
Linde Buder
July 20, 2026
Geneva Telegram
U.S. Mission / Eric Bridiers / flickr / CC BY-ND 2.0
The global fight against HIV/AIDS amid financial pressures and an uncertain future for UNAIDS
The "Geneva Telegram" explores events in Geneva-based multilateral organizations on a current topic. This time, the focus is on HIV/AIDS.
Linde Buder
July 16, 2026
Geneva Telegram
Advancing Protection under Article I(2) of the 1969 OAU Refugee Convention
Interpretative clarity, operational support and pathways forward for African States Parties
Dr. Tamara Wood
June 26, 2026
Single title
EdvanKun
Analysis of the Swiss vote against capping the population at 10 million
Voting behaviour in line with Germany’s and China's positioning in the UN Human Rights Council 2024
Map of the Month 01/2025
The map of the month January illustrates the voting behaviour of the members of the Human Rights Council in line with Germany’s versus China's positioning in the Council in 2024. A total of 91 resolutions were adopted in the UN Human Rights Council last year, 25 of which were put to a vote due to a lack of consensus. In addition to the EU member states, the USA, Montenegro, Japan, Finland and Albania voted most frequently in line with Germany (over 80%); Algeria never did so and Bangladesh, Burundi, Cameroon, China, Eritrea and Sudan only once. Of the Central and South American Council members, Argentina, Paraguay, Costa Rica and Chile voted most frequently in line with Germany (just over 55%); of the African states, Malawi, Ghana and Gambia (just over 35%). By contrast, Eritrea, Cuba and Burundi voted in line with China most frequently, while Albania, Argentina, Bulgaria and the USA never voted with China, and Germany, Lithuania, the Netherlands and Romania hardly ever (4%). China and Germany only voted together once: they supported a text on the Palestinian people's right to self-determination, which the USA rejected.
Sarah Ultes
January 29, 2025
Map of the Month
Contributions of WHO member states to the first WHO Investment Round
Map of the Month 12/2024
The WHO Investment Round, initiated by the "Sustainable Finance Working Group", is a new pillar to secure sustainable, predictable and flexible funding for the WHO, complementing the gradual increase in assessed contributions.
Between May and November 2024, the first-ever Investment Round raised 3.8 billion USD (53% of the 7.1 billion target) from 53 member states and 16 philantrophy, private sector, or multilateral entities. Only member states and the European Union are shown here.
For 2025-2028, the WHO's General Program of Work (GPW) requires 11.1 billion USD in total funding, of which 4 billion USD will come from assessed contributions. This approach aims to address critical health needs while ensuring financial sustainability and accountability.
Dr. Anja Maria Rittner
December 23, 2024
Map of the Month
New composition of UN Human Rights Council as of 2025 and key votes at the 57th session of the Council
Map of the Month 10/2024
On 9 October, the UN General Assembly voted on the new composition of the UN Human Rights Council for the year 2025. Saudi Arabia once again failed to make it onto the Council in the Asia-Pacific Group, obtaining only 117 votes. The country's last failed attempt was in 2021 when it obtained only 90 votes. In the group of Western European and other states, the USA decided not to run for a second term. Trump had already decided to withdraw from the Council during his first term in June 2018, a decision that was reversed under Biden. Germany will be represented on the Council once again in 2025. Key votes during the 57th UN Human Rights Council included an extension of the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the on the situation of human rights in the Russian Federation as well as for the Fact Finding Mission on Sudan. A resolution tabled by Georgia on technical assistance for its own country also had to be voted on. With regard to the right to development, another resolution was adopted, which focussed in particular on the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights for its promotion of the right at the regional level. The resolution was sharply criticised by the USA and the EU, among others. The USA also criticised a text entitled ‘From rhetoric to reality: a global call for concrete action against racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance’, which, among other things, described the slave trade as a ‘crime against humanity’ for which 'reparations proportionate to the harms committed' were expected. Criticism from the USA and Germany was primarily directed at anti-Semitism in connection with the associated Durban process and the singling out of a single region in the context of the wider problem of racism.
Sarah Ultes
October 10, 2024
Map of the Month
Vote by UN General Assembly on motion for no action on Russian amendment to the Pact for the Future
Map of the Month 09/2024
On 22 September 2024, the UN General Assembly adopted by consensus the Pact for the Future along with its annexes, the Global Digital Compact and the Declaration on Future Generations. Beforehand, however, the Russian Federation criticised the negotiations and the pact and put forward an amendment which stated „that the United Nations and its system shall not intervene in matters which are essentially within the domestic jurisdiction of any State (…)“. Congo on behalf of the African
Group requested a motion for no action which was voted on and supported with 143 states in favour,
7 against (Russia, Iran, Syria, North Korea, Nicaragua, Belarus and Sudan) and 15 abstentions.
28 states did not participate. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres called the Pact and its
annexes „landmark agreements“ which were "step-change towards more effective, inclusive, networked multilateralism.“ The Pact includes 56 action steps in areas like sustainable
development, peace and security, digital cooperation, youth and future generations or global governance.