Funding cuts to human rights are comfort to dictators, UN’s Turk says

GENEVA - The UN human rights chief said on June 16 that donor cuts to his office would weaken global accountability efforts and be a comfort to dictators and authoritarians.

In an opening speech to the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, Mr Volker Turk said that warning systems for abuses as well as advocacy efforts for those wrongly imprisoned would be affected by lower spending.

"Funding cuts to my office, and the broader human rights ecosystem, offer comfort to dictators and authoritarians," he told the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva at the start of its four-week session.

The Human Rights Council, which meets three times a year, has no legally binding powers but can increase scrutiny by documenting abuses and conducting investigations.

The current four-week council session, which has been shortened to cut costs, will discuss crises in Ukraine, Gaza and Sudan.

It will also seek to strengthen protections for LGBTQ+ people amid what activists describe as a rollback of their rights.

As the US and others cut funding to the United Nations, Mr Turk's office faces a shortfall of at least US$60 million (S$76.79 million) in 2025 and around three-quarters of its partner organisations expect to lose over 40 per cent of their funding, Mr Turk said.

US President Donald Trump has halted US engagement with the council, repeating allegations of an anti-Israel bias.

Mr Trump has also made deep cuts to spending on foreign aid, impacting human rights work, while European countries are shifting more money to defence.

Mr Turk described a pushback against diversity, equality and inclusion policies (DEI) around the world, calling them “a strategic decision to scapegoat vulnerable groups.”

Statements from government officials in some countries including Argentina and the United States were vilifying transgender and non-binary people, he said. REUTERS