NEW YORK, February 15 (IPS) – UN member states have agreed to fully fund UN human rights mechanisms China, Russiaand their allies were looking to cut the 2023 budget. This will set a precedent for future UN funding of human rights.
Human Rights Watch warned for many years about Efforts led by China and Russia cut funding for UN human rights work, which is aimed at undermining the decisions of the Human Rights Council, the General Assembly and the UN Security Council.
During the General Assembly budget negotiation By the end of 2022, China, Russia and allies offer to solve cancel funding for human rights investigations in Sri Lanka, Iran, Venezuela, Russia, Ukraine, Nicaragua, North Korea, Belarus, Syria and Eritrea. Ethiopia proposes a Resolution to drop an investigation into war crimes and abuses in Ethiopia itself.
Israeli also urge the state refused to fund a Advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice on the legal consequences of the 55-year occupation of Palestinian territory.
All of these efforts failed. The Czech Republic, as president of the European Union, is opposed by fully funded proposal for human rights mechanisms at the level proposed by Secretary-General António Guterres. The resolution was passed with a sizable majority.
There’s more good news. Not only have funding reduction efforts failed, the very problematic recommendations made by the United Nations Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Affairs (ACABQ) was rejected.
The Advisory Committee is supposed to be an independent body of experts, but in recent years its “experts” from countries such as China and Russia have promoted anti-corruption agendas. their government’s human rights and support drastic cuts to human rights funding, without good reason.
Due to divisions between Western and developing nations, the UN’s standard funding compromise accepted the recommendations of the Advisory Committee without binding. For example, if its recommendation was adopted, the staff and budget for Iran Investigative Committee will be cut in half.
United Nations member states should consider the successful UN budget results as a blueprint for the future. job of Fifth Committee – the body that oversees the budgetary affairs of the United Nations – is to allocate resources, without questioning the mandates approved by the UN legislatures.
They should also reform or replace the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Affairs with an advisory body run by truly independent experts, not diplomats following orders. of their government.
Meanwhile, UN missions should build on this success and ensure reliable adequate funding for all UN human rights missions.
Louis Charbonneau is the Director of UN Human Rights Watch
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