The struggle for our collective humanity and dignity by UN Office for Human Rights, agencies   10 Dec. 2025   UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk at the Human Rights Day Press Conference:   "Human rights. Underfunded. Undermined. Under attack. And yet. Powerful. Undeterred. Mobilizing.   This year no doubt has been a difficult one. And one full of dangerous contradictions. Funding for human rights has been slashed, while anti-rights movements are increasingly well-funded.   Profits for the arms industry are soaring, while funding for humanitarian aid and grassroots civil society plummets.   Those defending rights and justice are attacked, sanctioned and hauled before courts, even as those ordering the commission of atrocity crimes continue to enjoy impunity.   Diversity, equity and inclusion policies that were adopted to address historical and structural injustices are being vilified as unjust.   The prognosis would be incredibly dire if these were the only trends. But the pushback on human rights is facing pushback from a groundswell of human rights activism.   In Nepal, Serbia, Madagascar, Kenya, Bangladesh, Ecuador, Paraguay, the Philippines, Indonesia, Tanzania, Morocco, Peru and beyond, mostly young people have taken to the streets and to social media against inequalities, against corruption or repression, in favour of freedom of expression, and for their everyday essential rights.   People across the world have also been protesting against war and injustice, and demanding climate action, in places far from home, expressing solidarity and pressuring their governments to take action.   I urge governments around the world to harness the energy of these social movements into opportunities for broader transformational reforms rather than rushing to suppress them or label them as extremist threats to national security. They are, in fact, the exact opposite of threats to national security.   On the challenges I had set out earlier, here is some data: Funding. Our resources have been slashed, along with funding for human rights organisations – including at the grassroots level – around the world. We are in survival mode.   My Office has had about USD 90 million less than we needed this year, which means around 300 jobs have been lost, and essential work has had to be cut, including on Colombia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Myanmar, Tunisia and other countries at a time when the needs are rising.   UN Special Rapporteur country visits and investigative missions by fact-finding bodies have also been reduced, sometimes drastically. Crucial dialogues with States on their compliance with UN human rights treaties have had to be postponed – last year there were 145 State party reviews, we are down to 103 this year.   We see that all this has extensive ripple effects on international and national efforts to protect human rights.   Meanwhile, anti-rights and anti-gender movements are increasingly coordinated and well-funded, operating across borders. According to the European Parliamentary Forum for Sexual and Reproductive Rights, for example, almost USD 1.2 billion was mobilized by anti-rights groups in Europe between 2019 and 2023. There is significant money flowing into the anti-rights agenda from funders based in Europe, Russia and the United States of America.   Such massive funding, coupled with media capture and disinformation strategies have made the anti-rights agenda a powerful cross-regional force.   Another distressing dataset is that from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). It says that arms and military services revenues for the 100 largest arms companies reached a record USD 679 billion in 2024. SIPRI has said demand was boosted by wars in Ukraine and Gaza, by global and regional geopolitical tensions, and ever-higher military expenditure. In 2024 global defence spending reached $2.7 trillion dollars.   There have been efforts this year to secure ceasefires and peace deals, which are certainly welcome. However, for peace to be sustainable, human rights must play a central role. From prevention to negotiating to monitoring to accountability, recovery and peacebuilding.   And we need to do a reality check. As we have seen in Gaza and in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, agreements have yet to translate into effective protection of civilians on the ground.   Gaza remains a place of unimaginable suffering, loss and fear. While the bloodshed has reduced, it has not stopped. Attacks by Israel continue, including on individuals approaching the so-called “yellow line”, residential buildings, and IDP tents and shelters as well as other civilian objects. Access to essential services and goods remain severely inadequate. In the West Bank, we are seeing unprecedent levels of attacks by Israeli forces and settlers against Palestinians, forcing them from their land. This is a time to intensify pressure and advocacy – not to sink into complacency – for Palestinians across the occupied territory.   Clashes between the Democratic Republic of the Congo armed forces and the Rwandan-backed M23 armed group continue, alongside serious human rights violations and abuses. Civilians, again, are bearing the brunt.   Overnight, there have been reports of tens of thousands fleeing the densely populated South Kivu city of Uvira amid escalating clashes between the M23 and DRC armed forces, backed by Wazalendo militia. This comes just days after the DRC and Rwanda reaffirmed their commitment to implement the June 2025 Washington Peace Agreement. Over the years, we have documented outrageous violations against civilians in Uvira, including rape and sexual and gender-based violence. The risk of a broader regional confrontation appears to be increasing.   In Sudan, the brutal conflict between the army and the Rapid Support Forces continues unabated. From Darfur and the Kordofans to Khartoum and Omdurman and beyond, no Sudanese civilian has been left untouched by the cruel and senseless violence. I am extremely worried that we might see a repeat of the atrocities committed in El Fasher in Kordofan.   In Ukraine, civilian harm has risen sharply. Civilian casualties so far this year are 24 per cent higher than the same period last year, largely due to Russia’s increased use of powerful long-range weapons in large numbers and its continuing efforts across a broad front to capture further Ukrainian territory by armed force.   Large-scale attacks on Ukraine’s energy system have caused emergency outages and prolonged daily electricity cuts, disruptions to water and heating services in many areas. Urgent steps need to be taken to alleviate suffering, including the return of transferred children, the exchange of all prisoners of war, and the unconditional release of civilian detainees held by Russian authorities.   For any sustainable peace to be negotiated, it is important that confidence-building measures are taken, grounded in human rights, including steps to alleviate civilian suffering, promote accountability and preserve a basis for future dialogue. And, importantly, women need to be a part of this process.   It is imperative that peace deals and ceasefires are secured and implemented in good faith. And with full respect for international law, which can never be set aside for political convenience.   It is also critical to counter the demonization of and hatemongering rhetoric against migrants and refugees. In various countries, worryingly, we are seeing violent pushbacks, large-scale raids, arrest and returns without due process, criminalization of migrants and refugees and those who support them, as well as the outsourcing of responsibilities under international law.   I urge States to embark on an evidence-based policy debate on migration and refugee issues, anchored in international human rights and refugee law.   In the course of many electoral campaigns this year, we have also seen a pattern of democratic backsliding, restrictive civic space and electoral violence.   Myanmar’s upcoming military-imposed “election”, is accompanied by new waves of acute insecurity and violence, continued arrests and detentions of opponents, voter coercion, the use of extensive electronic surveillance tools and systemic discrimination. I fear this process will only further deepen insecurity, fear and polarization throughout the country.   There is, unfortunately, never a shortage of human rights challenges to face, issues to resolve, and values to defend. What is heartening is that there are so many of us, around the world, attached to the same universal human rights values – no matter the noise, the gaslighting, and the persistent injustices.   I am energized by the social movements – particularly those led by young people. They are writing the latest chapters in the time-honoured struggle for our collective humanity and dignity.   Journalists, activists, and human rights defenders have been at the forefront of the global movement for freedom, equality and justice. Such perseverance has achieved landmark victories for the rights of women, migrants, people discriminated against on the basis of descent, minorities, our environment, and so much more. And we will continue to persevere".   http://www.ohchr.org/en/statements-and-speeches/2025/12/turk-says-human-rights-under-attack-yet-undeterred-2025 http://www.ohchr.org/en/statements-and-speeches/2025/12/high-commissioner-turk-human-rights-day-2025   Democracy endures only when dignity is defended in people’s daily lives, writes Camila Barretto Maia - Executive Director of the Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights   "On 25 November, former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro was taken into custody after the Supreme Federal Court concluded the case that convicted him for attacking democracy. Less noted, but equally consequential, was that three generals were arrested the same day for participating in the same crimes. It marked the first time in Brazil’s history, including its 21 years of military dictatorship, that high-ranking military officials have been imprisoned for involvement in an attempted coup d’État.   This news should be recognised and celebrated. Without memory and justice for our authoritarian, violent and colonial pasts, these patterns re-emerge. Yet the antidote to authoritarianism requires us to do more.   Around the world, authoritarianism is resurgent: military takeovers in many African countries; intensified repression and shrinking civic space in Uganda and Rwanda; and, in the United States, a deepening assault on electoral integrity, judicial independence and truth itself.   These new forms do not always resemble twentieth-century military regimes. Governments with openly authoritarian agendas are also being elected with broad popular support and then eroding checks and balances without ever deploying tanks in the streets.   We must confront an uncomfortable truth: the value of democracy has eroded, even in countries with long democratic traditions. Threats to our collective life are being normalised or met with indifference. Part of the explanation lies in limiting democracy to procedures rather than outcomes.   For many, including racialised communities, indigenous peoples, women in low-income sectors and migrant workers, democratic systems have not delivered on the rights enshrined in constitutions and human rights treaties: food, housing, water, education, health.   Neocolonialism and the structural limitations imposed by a flawed international financial architecture add a layer of complexity to limit the expected outcomes for low-income countries.   In the 1990s and early 2000s, the human rights movement made a strategic effort to elevate economic, social and cultural rights (and today, environmental rights) as a core pillar of human rights. This helped dismantle the false dichotomy between democracy and freedom on one side, and equality and dignity on the other.   Yet these rights have long been treated as secondary, acknowledged in international law but rarely enforceable, while civil and political rights were seen as the only ones that could be claimed before courts or UN bodies.   This imbalance is untenable. Inequality is accelerating, especially at the top; billionaire wealth soared even during the COVID-19 pandemic, expanding influence over politics and undermining the democratic social contract.   Justice systems remain inaccessible to most people and overly accessible to concentrated economic interests. The underdeveloped countries are drowning in debt. Billions of people still lack healthcare, education, social protection, energy, water, adequate housing and decent work. Climate and environmental crises go largely unaddressed as extractivism, overconsumption and war continue to shape the global agenda.   Today’s authoritarian resurgence is rooted in the failure to build economic, social and cultural rights as full, enforceable rights essential to democratic protection.   Without a concrete obligation to guarantee a dignified life for all, and the necessary international and national reforms to comply with this obligation, democracy becomes an empty shell; vulnerable to false promises of quick fixes that cause long-lasting harm.   On this Human Rights Day, we at GI-ESCR reaffirm our commitment to advancing these rights because they lie at the heart of what is at stake. They safeguard human dignity in daily life and, at the same time, help curb the power of private interests over common goods.   These are the agendas that make democracy real by compelling institutions to respond to people’s actual needs and transforming democratic principles into substantive, lived experience".   http://gi-escr.org/en/ http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2025/02/fair-and-effective-tax-policies-needed-advance-economic-social-and-cultural http://www.cesr.org/states-adopt-un-resolution-to-further-rights-enabling-economic-policies/   Human Rights Day: The time to act is now, by Antanina Maslyka, ARTICLE 19’s Regional Director for Europe:   "This year, Human Rights Day brings a sense of déjà vu, and there is nothing comforting about it. Increasingly, the world feels like 1938 all over again: multilateral institutions are wobbling, collective security systems are eroding, and democratic coalitions are struggling to respond effectively to blatant war crimes and grave human rights violations.   In the meantime, governments are steadily normalising the idea that ‘might’ once again determines ‘right’. As a result, harassment of journalists and activists is on the rise; new forms of online censorship heavily limit freedom of expression; and authorities too often choose crackdowns over public dialogue, labelling legitimate criticism as tactics of ‘disturbing public order’. The architecture built to prevent the worst chapters of the 20th century from repeating is cracking – sometimes under the weight of neglect, sometimes under deliberate assault.   Yet, those of us working in human rights wake up every day and continue doing our work. Still believing we can change the trajectory of rising populism and polarisation and undo the wrongs. Is that naive? Perhaps. But resignation has never protected a single freedom.   Across Europe, where my work is focused – but really everywhere – attacks on human rights have become so routine that silence is now treated as complicity.   This is how democracy dies: quietly, gradually, in the spaces where people decide it is ‘not the right moment to speak,’ or ‘not our place to intervene’.   In the meantime, the language of human rights is being hollowed out – stripped of concrete meaning and sometimes reduced to a few safe, overplayed phrases that can make it feel distant and out of touch with the realities of the people on the ground. At the same time, international systems built to safeguard these very rights are increasingly dismissed as irrelevant, elitist, or both.   I do not speak from a lecturing position. We are all searching for the right words, as we try to respond to pervasive violence, repression, and the shrinking of hope.   So, where does that leave us? Can we still be ‘civil’ in the face of this reality? Or is it time to embrace a more ‘uncivil’, pointed honesty? The kind that admits how much is at stake, how deeply the ground is shifting, and how poorly equipped our traditional toolkits are for today’s crises?   I, of course, cannot predict the future of human rights. But the very question of ‘Can human rights survive and still mean something?’ forces the clarity we have been avoiding. My answer is yes. Not because human rights are in fashion, or ideologically convenient, but because they are the only framework that treats every human being as an end rather than a means. Without that, everything else collapses.   But we need to wake up. All of us. The choice to abstain or to not engage usually comes with an assumption that the world will keep functioning as it is now. It will not. Not unless we relearn how to defend the core values we claim to cherish, and to defend them loudly, uncomfortably, and yes, sometimes impolitely.   We need to reflect as much as we need to act. A willingness to examine what has not worked, where we have been too timid, and how often we have mistaken following the rules for actually standing up for what matters.   In the ‘war of narratives’ we must show that human rights belong to no government, no interest group, no political agenda. Their legitimacy and importance come from lived experiences, from the people who risk the most to defend them. We should listen to their brave voices, amplify them, rely on their knowledge, and get out of their way when needed.   I believe that human rights can survive this moment but not if we continue pretending that nothing has changed. We cannot just remain complacent about the old ways of doing things. The world is shifting faster than our frameworks, and the gap is widening. It is time to step out of our comfort zones, rethink our methods, and take seriously the urgency of now.   You do not defend human rights and dignity by whispering and asking bullies for permission. You defend it by refusing the silence and indifference that autocracies and dictatorships depend on.   As Aldous Huxley wrote, ‘Universal happiness keeps the wheels steadily turning. Truth and beauty can’t.’ Human rights were never meant to keep the system’s wheels running smoothly. They were meant to stop them when they crush people. On this Human Rights Day, let’s choose truth over comfort. And then act like we mean it.   http://www.article19.org/resources/human-rights-day-the-time-to-act-is-now/ http://humanrights1st.substack.com/p/dont-cage-human-rights-behind-a-natural   Human rights protect what it means to be human, by Hina Jilani for The Elders   "Seventy-seven years ago today, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights became the first global statement that every person – regardless of nationality, background, belief or other status – deserves fundamental freedoms.   This document was born from humanity’s darkest hours. After witnessing the horrors of World War Two, the world understood that it could not rely on goodwill alone to protect human life, equity and liberty.   Its principles continue to underpin global standards of dignity and equality that guide laws, inspire social progress, and help protect peace. At their core, human rights protect what it means to be human. As Nelson Mandela, founder of The Elders, said: ‘to deny people their human rights is to challenge their very humanity’.   But we are now in a troubling era of growing geopolitical division and disregard for international law, as conflicts intensify, multilateral institutions weaken, and the norms that once provided protection and restraint are routinely challenged or ignored. Human rights are being eroded, leaving communities increasingly vulnerable to conflict and discrimination.   Parallels with the 1930s can certainly be drawn, as we see rising ultranationalism, unchecked aggression, and a resurgence of antisemitism, anti-Muslim bigotry and other forms of racism and xenophobia. The genocide and human-made famine witnessed in Gaza, following the atrocities in Israel more than two years ago, reflect the same kind of dehumanisation and racist ideologies that paved the way for the horrors of that era.   The systematic violence against women and girls across today’s conflicts – from Sudan to Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Haiti, and Myanmar – also reveals the depths of misogyny and discrimination that persist today.   While the world vowed ‘never again’ after the Holocaust, that commitment has often gone unfulfilled. These are contemporary tragedies that escape accountability, enabled by silence and denial. The complicity and inaction of governments demand to be challenged.   Post-war reconciliation demonstrated that lasting peace requires accountability, rights-based solutions and rebuilding trust – not vengeance. Today, as the world confronts overlapping existential threats – from the climate and nature crises to pandemics, nuclear weapons, and the dangers of unchecked AI – these lessons remain critical. International law and human rights must be at the centre of any meaningful global response.   ‘Everyday Essentials’ is the official theme for this year’s Human Rights Day. It is an important reminder that human rights shape our everyday lives, often in ways we do not realise. Many of us take human rights for granted, as something that will simply endure without our vigilance.   Having dedicated my career to defending human rights, advancing the rule of law, and standing with those whose voices are silenced by injustice, I know all too well that we cannot afford to treat them that way.   We must not forget that universal rights and freedoms can never be embodied and protected by declarations alone. It is people who embody and breathe life into human rights. It is people and their leaders who bridge the gap between lofty human rights agreements and the situation on the ground. Without these people, the Declaration amounts to nothing more than a hollow commitment. We must not only dream of a more just world but have the courage to fight for it".   http://theelders.org/news/human-rights-protect-what-it-means-be-human Visit the related web page
	UNICEF calls for urgent investment in life-saving services for children to meet urgent needs by Catherine Russell UNICEF Executive Director   10 Dec. 2025   UNICEF calls for urgent investment in life-saving services for children as global humanitarian needs reach new extremes.   Surging conflicts, rising hunger, global funding cuts, and collapsing basic services are driving humanitarian needs for children to extreme levels worldwide.   As UNICEF’s Humanitarian Action for Children 2026 (HAC) appeal is launched today, US$7.66 billion is urgently required to provide life-saving assistance to 73 million children - including 37 million girls and over 9 million children with disabilities – across 133 countries and territories next year.   Across every region, children caught in emergencies are facing overlapping crises that are growing in scale and complexity.   Escalating conflicts are driving mass displacement and exposing children to grave violations at the highest levels ever recorded.   Attacks on schools and hospitals continue unabated, while verified cases of rape and other forms of sexual violence against children are rising sharply. In many crises, children and the aid workers attempting to reach them are being deliberately targeted.   “Around the world, children caught in conflict, disaster, displacement and economic turmoil continue to face extraordinary challenges,” said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell. “Their lives are being shaped by forces far beyond their control: violence, the threat of famine, intensifying climate shocks, and the widespread collapse of essential services.”   The global humanitarian funding environment has deteriorated dramatically in 2025. Announced and anticipated funding cuts by donor governments are already limiting UNICEF’s ability to reach millions of children in dire need. Severe shortfalls in 2024 and 2025 are forcing UNICEF to make impossible choices.   Across UNICEF’s nutrition programming alone, a 72 per cent funding gap in 2025 forced cuts in 20 priority countries – reducing planned targets from more than 42 million to over 27 million women and children.   In education, a shortfall of US$745 million has left millions more children at risk of losing access to learning, protection and stability.   For child protection, rising violations coincide with shrinking resources, threatening programmes for survivors of sexual violence, children recruited or used by armed groups, and those requiring urgent health support.   “Severe funding shortfalls are placing UNICEF’s life-saving programs under immense strain,” said Russell. “Across our operations, frontline teams are being forced into impossible decisions: focusing limited supplies and services on children in some places over others, decreasing the frequency of services children receive, or scaling back interventions that children depend on to survive.”   At the same time, humanitarian access is being restricted at levels unseen in recent years. In many emergencies, UNICEF and partners cannot reach children trapped behind shifting frontlines, making sustained humanitarian diplomacy essential to secure access and to protect children from escalating violations.   UNICEF warns that more than 200 million children will require humanitarian assistance in 2026. Many live in protracted crises, leaving entire generations at risk of under-nutrition, denied education, exposed to disease outbreaks, and deprived of safety and stability.   “The current global funding crisis does not reflect a decline in humanitarian need, but rather a growing gap between the scale of suffering and the resources available,” said Russell.   “While UNICEF is working to adapt to this new reality, children are already paying the price of shrinking humanitarian budgets.”   UNICEF is urging national governments, public sector donors and private sector partners to increase their investment in children, prioritising flexible and multi-year funding; support locally led response and national systems; uphold humanitarian principles and the centrality of protection; and remove barriers that impede humanitarian access.   http://www.unicef.org/press-releases/unicef-calls-urgent-investment-life-saving-services-children-global-humanitarian http://www.unicef.org/press-releases/remarks-unicef-executive-director-catherine-russell-launch-unicefs-humanitarian Visit the related web page
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