GENEVA — U.N. human rights chief Volker Türk warned that his office is in “survival mode” amid deepening funding shortfalls, launching a $400 million appeal to sustain global monitoring and accountability work as rights abuses surge worldwide.
Addressing diplomats at the U.N. rights office in Geneva, Türk said chronic underfunding is hampering life-saving operations “at a time when truth is being eroded by disinformation and censorship.” He called the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) “a lifeline for the abused, a megaphone for the silenced, and a steadfast ally to those who risk everything to defend the rights of others.”
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The appeal comes after a year of steep retrenchment. OHCHR lost roughly 300 of its 2,000 staff and was forced to end or scale back work in 17 countries, Türk said, with the program in Myanmar cut by 60%. In 2025, U.N. human rights staff working in 87 countries conducted more than 5,000 monitoring missions — down from 11,000 in 2024 — yielding “less evidence for both protection and prevention,” he added.
Financial uncertainty across the U.N. system is compounding the squeeze. While the U.N. General Assembly approved a regular human rights budget of $224.3 million for this year, a broader liquidity crisis clouds how much OHCHR will actually receive. Secretary-General António Guterres has warned the U.N. is on the brink of financial collapse and could run out of cash by July unless countries pay their dues. The United States, historically the U.N.’s largest contributor, has slashed its funding since President Donald Trump returned to power last year, while other governments have tightened budgets.
Voluntary funding has also fallen short. Last year, OHCHR sought $500 million and received $257.8 million. Against that backdrop, Türk is seeking $400 million in new voluntary contributions from member states and private donors, arguing that human rights represent a small fraction of U.N. spending yet deliver “high-impact” returns that stabilize communities, build trust in institutions and underpin lasting peace. “The cost of our work is low; the human cost of underinvestment is immeasurable,” he said.
Türk pointed to concrete outcomes to underscore the stakes. He said the office supported 67,000 survivors of torture and modern slavery, documented tens of thousands of violations, and exposed discrimination in more than 100 countries. In Ukraine, OHCHR’s human rights monitoring mission is “the only organization” that has maintained a comprehensive, verified record of civilian casualties “since the initial Russian invasion in 2014,” he said. Fact-finding in Bangladesh on the 2024 crackdown helped establish a detailed record of systematic abuses, while investigations in the Democratic Republic of Congo uncovered patterns of grave violations that may amount to crimes against humanity.
“We are currently in survival mode, delivering under strain,” Türk said, warning that cuts “untie perpetrators’ hands everywhere, leaving them to do whatever they please.” He argued the consequences of dwindling resources cascade quickly: fewer monitors in the field, weaker early warning, diminished support for national reforms, and less capacity to counter secrecy, “the oppressor’s strongest ally,” and to challenge impunity.
Türk framed the appeal as a bid to restore core capabilities — from field missions and rapid deployments to legal analysis and support for victims and human rights defenders — and to protect the public’s access to reliable reporting as censorship and false narratives spread. “Our reporting provides credible information on atrocities and human rights trends,” he told diplomats. “All this work aims to bring the stories of victims to the world.”
By Abdiwahab Ahmed
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.
