UN Financial Crisis Threatens to Halt Human Rights Work

(Hilary Power – Human Rights Watch) In Geneva on 9 February, the United Nations deputy human rights chief gave an alarming update on the dramatic impact of the financial crisis on the UN’s ability to promote and protect human rights around the world. She described a human rights system at breaking point – with travel cutbacks, atrocity investigations grinding to a halt, and even pro bono human rights experts prevented from working as their shoestring budgets are slashed. This follows a stark warning by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres last month that the UN faces collapse by the summer unless member states pay their dues. In response, UN member states continued to focus on “efficiency” measures and areas of work to be cut, with little reflection on the root causes or sustainable solutions to the crisis. The deputy rights chief warned, however, that “there is no longer any fat in the system,” and now “I am afraid we are cutting into the bone.” Last week, her office reported that its monitoring work had been reduced by over 50 percent in 2025. UN Special Procedures, treaty bodies and independent investigative mechanisms have also issued stark warnings about the impact of the financial crisis on their work. The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva also told member states it will have to drastically cut back on interpretation and translation support, including international sign language and live captioning, dramatically undermining accessibility. The UN committee on disability rights has warned that such cost-saving measures would not only impede its work, but amounted to discrimination because of the denial of reasonable accommodation and accessibility. It will also have a significant impact on the ability of UN experts to do crucial country visits. – UN Financial Crisis Threatens to Halt Human Rights Work | Human Rights Watch