Volker Turk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, made this appeal in Geneva today. He said the UN Human Rights Office has been working with countries, national groups, regional organizations, and the private sector to improve human rights worldwide.
Up to 2,000 staff members in 92 countries have carried out about 11,000 human rights monitoring missions and observed nearly 1,000 trials. Turk also mentioned that 95 partners, including 67 UN member states, supported these efforts and hoped they would continue in 2025.
The office plans to strengthen its work by involving governments, civil society, the private sector, charitable organizations, scientists, and academics.
Turk pointed out that the office requested USD 500 million last year, but only raised USD 269 million—4% less than in 2023. He stressed that human rights are an affordable yet impactful investment, essential for promoting peace, security, sustainable development, and social unity.
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization that aims to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations and countries, achieve international cooperation, and serve as a centre for coordinating the actions of member states. It is widely recognized as the world’s largest international organization. The UN is headquartered in New York City, in international territory with certain privileges extraterritorial to the United States, and the UN has other offices in Geneva, Nairobi, Vienna, and The Hague, where the International Court of Justice is headquartered at the Peace Palace