UN rights chief warns of $60 million funding shortfall
GENEVA, June 11 (Reuters) - The United Nations Human Rights Office faces a dire financial crisis with a shortfall of at least $60 million this year due to funding cuts from donor states, its head said on Wednesday.
"I will not be able to staff 11 countries with a human rights presence ... It will mean that people will suffer as a result," the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, told reporters in Geneva.
OHCHR has received $179 million of its $246 million annual regular budget so far for this year, a shortfall of $67 million, it said. Its extra-budgetary budget projects stand at $209 million, which is $60 million less than last year.
Turk pointed to efforts to relocate some staff members to regional offices such as Vienna, Beirut and Panama City to both save costs and bring personnel closer to the countries in their brief.
"I hope that political leadership around the world, including in Europe, wakes up to that reality, and my call on them is to support the human rights course, strategically, politically, but also financially," Turk said.
UNHCR and multiple United Nations agencies are grappling with major funding cuts due to significant donors slashing contributions, particulary the United States which has annually provided nearly a quarter of the U.N. budget.
The upcoming 59th session of the Human Rights Council had to make 250,000 Swiss francs' ($304,803.71) worth of savings, according to its president, and reduce the duration of the meeting by 2.5 days to save money.
"I am concerned... Diplomacy is about listening to each other ... it happens when people meet in Geneva in the corridors," the president of the U.N. Human Rights Council, Ambassador Jurg Lauber, told reporters in Geneva.
"We have now reached a level where we need to take different approaches. We may have to do further cuts," he added.
The Council's gathering begins on June 16 in Geneva.
($1 = 0.8202 Swiss francs)
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Reuters
3 hours ago
- Reuters
Brazil's Lula approval rating edges down to 28%, pollster Datafolha says
SAO PAULO, June 12 (Reuters) - Approval of Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's government ticked down to 28% from 29% in April, pollster Datafolha said on Thursday. The government's disapproval rate increased to 40% from 38% in the same period.
Reuters
3 hours ago
- Reuters
Democratic US Senator Padilla forced to ground, handcuffed by security agents
WASHINGTON, June 12 (Reuters) - Democratic U.S. Senator Alex Padilla was shoved out of a room, forced to the ground and handcuffed by security after attempting to ask a question at a Thursday press conference by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. "I am Senator Alex Padilla. I have questions for the secretary," Padilla said during the press conference where Noem was discussing protests in Los Angeles over President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown. "Hands off," Padilla, 52, said before he was ushered out of the room. Padilla, of California, said in a statement that he was forced to the ground and handcuffed by security. A video posted online showed three agents pushing Padilla to the ground and handcuffing his hands behind his back. Reuters was not immediately able to confirm the authenticity of the video. Noem was speaking in Los Angeles, which has seen days of protests against Trump's crackdown on migrants. The White House has responded by sending National Guard troops and U.S. Marines into the city, saying they would help secure federal buildings and defend Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. DHS in a statement on X accused Padilla of engaging in "disrespectful political theater". "Mr. Padilla was told repeatedly to back away and did not comply with officers' repeated commands. @SecretService thought he was an attacker and officers acted appropriately," the department said, adding that Noem later met with Padilla. A wave of Democratic senators, and at least one Republican, criticized Padilla's handling. "Senator Padilla is a big, tall guy, and to see how he was handled out of that room is wrong and sick," Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski told reporters at the Capitol. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer blasted the incident in a speech on the Senate floor. "I just saw something that sickened my stomach-- the manhandling of a United States senator," Schumer said. "We need immediate answers to what the hell went on." Top Senate Republican John Thune said he would withhold judgment until he knew more about the incident, saying, "We will have a response. But I want to get the facts and find out exactly what happened before we make any comments." The incident was not the first time that Trump administration officials detained Democratic elected officials. Newark Mayor Ras Baraka was arrested and charged with trespassing on May 9 during a privately run immigration center. Prosecutors later dropped those charges but charged Democratic U.S. Representative LaMonica McIver with assaulting and resisting officers who were trying to arrest Baraka. Both have denied wrongdoing.
Reuters
3 hours ago
- Reuters
World leaders may face wildfire smoke at Canada G7 summit
WINNIPEG, Manitoba, June 12 (Reuters) - World leaders may face smoke warnings when they gather next week in Alberta as wildfires burned out of control across much of Canada and caused the country's second-worst fire season in decades. The Kananaskis area of the Canadian Rocky Mountains, where the Group of Seven leaders' summit starts on Sunday, is not in a wildfire area. But the country is battling 225 blazes including 120 out of control with some of those fires raging to the west in British Columbia and in northern parts of Alberta. Canada's government on Thursday listed Calgary, the nearest major city to Kananaskis, at high risk for deteriorating air quality. Wildfire smoke levels can change quickly depending on wind direction. Burning forests in provinces to the east are producing smoke that is reaching the eastern U.S. coast. Some rain has fallen in western Canada in recent days, but not enough to douse most of the fires. They have so far consumed 3.7 million hectares of land, the second-largest area for this time of year in decades after 2023, officials said. Federal officials said at a G7 briefing on Thursday that measures to mitigate risks for the leaders' summit from wildfires and other potential hazards such as tornadoes and flooding were in place. Tens of thousands of people have been evacuated from communities across western Canada and in northwestern Ontario, some by military aircraft. Two people have died. Federal officials and politicians at a wildfire briefing on Thursday said climate change had exacerbated the wildfire risk across Canada.
