HRW warns that UN cuts could weaken human rights protection

United Nations.- The United Nations director for the NGO Human Rights Watch, Louis Charbonneau, stated this Wednesday that the budget cuts proposed by the organization’s general secretariat could “weaken the UN’s human rights mechanisms and harm victims of abuse, just when they are most needed to monitor serious violations around the world.”

UN Secretary-General António Guterres launched the UN80 reform initiative this year, aimed at commemorating the organization’s 80th anniversary and improving its efficiency in the face of the liquidity crisis. The proposal includes an average cut of 15% in spending in 2026, with up to a 20% reduction in personnel. However, Charbonneau criticized today in a statement that the plan offers little clarity on how it will affect human rights structures, “already understaffed and underfunded”. “The UN’s financial crisis has been aggravated by the delay or non-payment of mandatory contributions from some member states, including the United States and China,” the expert indicated. In addition, he assured that, during the current Donald Trump Administration, Washington has suspended “a large part of its payments, while China makes its contributions with significant delays”. Guterres has pointed out that the UN has too many mandates, including that of human rights, while Charbonneau underlines that these bodies are necessary and were created to respond to serious crises, from the conflicts in Sudan, Afghanistan, Ukraine or Burma, to abuses in Iran, Israel and Palestine, the Democratic Republic of Congo or Syria. “Independent investigation mechanisms document violations and support accountability, but they already operate with minimal staffing and limited budgets. Reducing or merging them would not solve the UN’s financial crisis, as human rights represent less than 1% of the organization’s total spending, but it would affect victims by sending a signal of less scrutiny to those responsible for abuses,” Charbonneau said. According to the HRW director for the UN, powers like Russia, China, and Iran are trying to cut resources allocated to these mechanisms in the Fifth Committee of the General Assembly, which discusses the 2026 budget. For Charbonneau, the UN must prioritize the protection of this fundamental pillar: “Reducing its capacity would not only put the oversight of abuses at risk, but could also undermine the institution’s credibility before the international community.”