This is a compilation of publicly available information on how the liquidity crisis and budget cuts related to the UN80 Initiative are affecting the work of UN human rights mechanisms since 2024, including their ability to fulfil their mandates and deliver tangible improvements for individuals and communities.
The 61st session of the UN Human Rights Council (23 February – 31 March) will discuss the protection of human rights defenders, freedom of religion, human rights while countering terrorism, and the rights to food and housing. It will also address grave human rights issues in contexts including Afghanistan, Nicaragua, Venezuela, China, Syria, South Sudan, Iran, North Korea, Myanmar, and the Occupied Palestinian Territory/Israel, amongst others. Here’s an overview of some of the key issues on the agenda.
ISHR and 37 human rights organisations in Latin America issued a joint statement condemning the United States military attack against Venezuela and expressing concern about the serious human rights situation in the country. Any solution to the crisis facing the country must be democratic, peaceful and negotiated, centred on respect for human rights, and prioritising the participation and decision-making power of Venezuelan society over its future.
At the 11th Session of the Open-ended intergovernmental working group on transnational corporations, ISHR urged all States to include and protect language that explicitly safeguards human rights defenders, impacted communities and the environment.
In light of the UN’s liquidity crisis since 2024, ISHR compares when UN Member States are paying their assessed contributions to the UN’s regular budget over the period 2019-2025.
ISHR analysed how UN Member States voted at the General Assembly Fifth Committee over the past seven years (2018-2024) on initiatives that seek to defund Human Rights Council (HRC) resolutions establishing investigative mechanisms on specific countries. None of these initiatives have so far been successful.
In a joint statement, ISHR and 50 human rights organisations called on the Ecuadorian State to stop using excessive force against protesters and respect, protect and facilitate the right to protest peacefully.
The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)'s report on reparatory justice recognises that reparations are necessary to dismantle systemic racism.
The 60th session of the UN Human Rights Council will consider issues including acts of intimidation and reprisals for cooperation with the UN, systemic racism, environment and climate justice, and the rights of Indigenous Peoples and people of African descent. It will also present an opportunity to address grave human rights situations in States including Afghanistan, Burundi, China, Israel/oPt, Nicaragua, Russia, Sudan and Venezuela, and many others. Here's an overview of some of the key issues on the agenda.
Over 80 Afghan and 20 international organisations, including ISHR, have sent an open letter to States of the Human Rights Council urging them to establish an accountability mechanism in Afghanistan.
