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Invisible threats loom over the futures of today’s youth: climate change, cyber instability, global inequality, the erosion of trust. At the Graduate Institute, students saw the need to not only debate these collective challenges, but also propose tangible solutions in front of International Geneva. The Geneva Debate now seeks to become the city’s preeminent student debate on current affairs and global development. 

With Covid-19 having posed extraordinary challenges to our understanding of freedom, justice, and solidarity, the first edition of the Geneva Debate puts forward the following motion:

On 26 May, 2021, two teams of four students from the Graduate Institute will engage in an hour-long debate at Maison de la paix in front of an online audience and a distinguished panel of judges. A 30-minute post-debate analysis will follow, which will allow debaters and members of the jury to reflect the Graduate Institute's culture of seeking to understand complex problems and propose nuanced solutions.

Can International Geneva lead as a global beacon of hope for peace and development in an era of radical uncertainty? The Geneva Debate answers in the affirmative. Almost a hundred years after the founding of the Graduate Institute, a group of students will seek to create a new space for conversation and reflection in our institution that responds to the challenges, solutions and ideas that will shape our footprint as future leaders in the XXI century.

Distinguished Guest

• Ruth Dreifuss, Former President and Federal Councillor of the Confederation of Switzerland

Jury Members

• Prof. Mohammad-Mahmoud Ould Mohamedou, Professor and Chair International History and Politics Department, The Graduate Institute.
• Prof. Suerie Moon, Co-Director ,Global Health Centre, Graduate Institute.
• Prof. Emanuela Ceva, Full Professor of Political Theory, University of Geneva.
• Ms Kritika Khanijo, Legal Consultant, World Health Organization.
• Mr Mario Jiménez, Programme Manager, GAVI / WEF Global Shaper.

Moderator

• Mr Marcel Mione: Journalist and Host – Géopolitis, Radio Télévision Suisse (RTS).