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The new year has started with some momentous events. Israel has banned dozens of aid agencies. What are the consequences?
“We’re supporting one in five hospitals in the Gaza Strip and one in three babies born in Gaza are assisted by our staff on the ground. We provide surgical support, wound care, physiotherapy, maternity and paediatric care,” says Chris Lockyear, Secretary General of Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF).
The US cut billions in foreign aid, then announced $2 billion for selected projects.
The money comes with strings attached; humanitarian crises in Afghanistan and Yemen get nothing.
“There was talk about the radical ideologies promoted by some UN agencies, which had undermined American interests and peace, bizarrely enough,” says Nick Cumming-Bruce, contributor to The New York Times.
Part of that $2 billion (CHF 1.6 billion) goes to several Latin American countries, meanwhile the US says it’s now “running” Venezuela.
“Washington clearly sees Central and South America as its domain. And we’re all here in Geneva muttering to ourselves, ‘But you just violated international law.’ Does it matter to anyone?” says Inside Geneva host Imogen Foulkes.
Are we seeing a bonfire of international laws?
“The fundamental commitments to international law that have underpinned Western security since the Second World War are being completely abandoned by an administration that does not acknowledge accountability to anyone but itself,” says Cumming-Bruce.
What does it mean for the world’s most vulnerable?
“All around the world, whether they’re in Gaza, in Sudan, in Ukraine or Venezuela, real people are living with the consequences of decisions taken in places like Washington, New York and Geneva,” says Lockyear.
Join host Imogen Foulkes on Inside Geneva.
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