UN Rights Chief Seeks $500 Million in 2025

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk talks to the press in Damascus, Syria, Wednesday Jan. 15, 2025.(AP Photo/Omar Sanadiki)
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk talks to the press in Damascus, Syria, Wednesday Jan. 15, 2025.(AP Photo/Omar Sanadiki)
TT
20

UN Rights Chief Seeks $500 Million in 2025

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk talks to the press in Damascus, Syria, Wednesday Jan. 15, 2025.(AP Photo/Omar Sanadiki)
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk talks to the press in Damascus, Syria, Wednesday Jan. 15, 2025.(AP Photo/Omar Sanadiki)

The UN human rights chief appealed on Thursday for $500 million in funding for 2025 to support its work such as investigating human rights abuses around the world from Syria to Sudan, warning that lives hang in the balance.

The UN human rights office has been grappling with chronic funding shortages that some worry could be exacerbated by cuts to US foreign aid by President Donald Trump. The annual appeal is for funds beyond the allocated UN funds from member states' fees, which make up just a fraction of the office's needs.

"In 2025, we expect no let-up in major challenges to human rights," High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk told member states in a speech at the UN in Geneva.

"I am very concerned that if we do not reach our funding targets in 2025, we will leave people ... to struggle and possibly fail, without adequate support," Reuters quoted him as saying.

He said any shortfall would mean more people remain in illegal detention; that governments are allowed to continue with discriminatory policies; violations may go undocumented; and human rights defenders could lose protection.

"In short, lives are at stake," he said.

The human rights office gets about 5% of the regular UN budget, but the majority of its funding comes voluntarily in response to its annual appeal announced on Thursday.

Western states give the most, with the United States donating $35 million last year or about 15% of the total received in 2024, followed by the European Commission, UN data showed. Still, the office received only about half of the $500 million it sought last year.



Putin Thanks Saudi Leadership for Sponsoring ‘Positive’ Riyadh Talks

 A handout photo made available by the Russian Foreign Ministry Press Service shows Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (R) and Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov (2-R) attending a meeting with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio (2-L), US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz (3-L) and US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff (L), Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah and Saudi National Security Advisor Dr. Musaed bin Mohammed Al-Aiban at Diriyah Palace in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 18 February 2025. (EPA / Russian Foreign Ministry Press Service)
A handout photo made available by the Russian Foreign Ministry Press Service shows Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (R) and Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov (2-R) attending a meeting with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio (2-L), US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz (3-L) and US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff (L), Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah and Saudi National Security Advisor Dr. Musaed bin Mohammed Al-Aiban at Diriyah Palace in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 18 February 2025. (EPA / Russian Foreign Ministry Press Service)
TT
20

Putin Thanks Saudi Leadership for Sponsoring ‘Positive’ Riyadh Talks

 A handout photo made available by the Russian Foreign Ministry Press Service shows Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (R) and Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov (2-R) attending a meeting with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio (2-L), US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz (3-L) and US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff (L), Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah and Saudi National Security Advisor Dr. Musaed bin Mohammed Al-Aiban at Diriyah Palace in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 18 February 2025. (EPA / Russian Foreign Ministry Press Service)
A handout photo made available by the Russian Foreign Ministry Press Service shows Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (R) and Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov (2-R) attending a meeting with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio (2-L), US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz (3-L) and US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff (L), Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah and Saudi National Security Advisor Dr. Musaed bin Mohammed Al-Aiban at Diriyah Palace in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 18 February 2025. (EPA / Russian Foreign Ministry Press Service)

Russian President Vladimir Putin said he would like to meet with President Donald Trump but the meeting needs to be prepared to make it productive.

"I would like to have a meeting, but it needs to be prepared so that it brings results," Putin said in televised remarks. He added that he would be "pleased" to meet Trump.

Putin hailed the "positive" talks between senior Russian and US officials in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Tuesday, noting that the parties agreed to restore the tattered diplomatic relations.

He expressed his gratitude to Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz and Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Crown Prince and Prime Minister, for holding the talks in Riyadh.

"In my opinion, we have taken a first step to resume work in a variety of areas that are of mutual interest," Putin said. These included issues relating to the Middle East, global energy markets and cooperation in space, he said.

"Without increasing the level of trust between Russia and the United States, it is impossible to resolve many issues, including the Ukrainian crisis."

Ukraine and European governments were not invited to the talks in the Saudi capital, which heightened their concern that Russia and the United States might cut a deal that ignores their vital security interests.

But Putin said Russia had never rejected talks with the Europeans or with Kyiv, and it was they who had refused to talk to Moscow.

'NO ONE IS EXCLUDING UKRAINE,' PUTIN SAYS

"If they want, please, let these negotiations take place. And we will be ready to return to the table for negotiations," he said.

"No one is excluding Ukraine," he added, saying that there was therefore no need for a "hysterical" reaction to the US-Russia talks.

Putin praised the American's "restraint" in the face of what he called "boorish" behavior by US allies.

He said he would be "happy to meet with Donald".

"But we are in such a situation that it is not enough to meet to have tea, coffee, sit and talk about the future. We need to ensure that our teams prepare issues that are extremely important for both the United States and Russia, including - but not only - on the Ukrainian track, in order to reach solutions acceptable to both sides."

Putin said this would be no easy task. He said that Trump himself, who during the US election campaign repeatedly promised to end the Ukraine war in 24 hours, was now talking about a period of six months.

He said this was "natural" because Trump had simply begun to receive fresh information that changed his approach.