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

16/6/2025 19:11

The U.N. human rights chief said on Monday 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, 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 U.N. 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.