GENEVA (AP) — The U.N. human rights chief said Thursday that his office is in “survival mode” as he presented an appeal for $400 million to meet its estimated needs this year, after funding cuts last year hurt its work in 17 countries including Colombia, Myanmar and Chad.
Volker Türk laid out his office's needs after the United States and some other traditional top donors in the West cut back their outlays for humanitarian aid and many U.N.-related organizations in 2025, warning of damage to its monitoring of rights worldwide.
“These cuts and reductions untie perpetrators’ hands everywhere, leaving them to do whatever they please,” he told diplomats at his office's headquarters overlooking Lake Geneva. “With crises mounting, we cannot afford a human rights system in crisis.”
“I am thankful to our 113 funding partners — including governments, private, and multilateral donors — for their vital contributions,” Türk said. “But we are currently in survival mode, delivering under strain.”
His office receives money through the regular U.N. budget, but traditionally gets most of its funding through voluntary contributions from member countries. It is seeking $400 million in voluntary funding this year.
Last year, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights had initially appealed for $500 million in voluntary contributions, but received nearly $258 million. It received $191 million through the regular budget, some $55 million less than initially approved.
The United States, under the Trump administration, halted its contributions in 2025; A year earlier, the U.S. under the Biden administration was the top single donor of voluntary contributions, with $36 million.
A U.N. rights office tally also showed France, for example, did not provide any voluntary funding last year, after contributing more than $5 million in 2024. Britain also lowered its outlay last year. Donors like Sweden, Germany and the European Union raised their contributions from 2024, however.
Citing the impact, Türk said his office last year undertook fewer than half the monitoring missions it did in 2024; pared down its “engagement” in the peace process in Colombia, where three of its eight country offices are closed; faced cuts of 60% to its Myanmar program; and reduced its advocacy and assistance for nearly 600 detainees in Chad.
“At a time of escalating gender backlash, our work to prevent gender-based violence and protect the rights of LGBTIQ+ people has suffered cuts of up to 75%,” he added.
The rights chief trumpeted his office’s work in places like Ukraine, where its monitoring mission has kept tabs on civilian casualties since 2014; in occupied Palestinian areas, where it has trained over 320 staffers to identify people in need; and in Colombia, where it worked with the Defense Ministry to establish codes of conduct and training.
FILE - U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCR), Volker Turk, speaks during a press conference in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on June 26, 2025. (AP Photo, File)
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia launched a “massive” missile and drone strike on Friday near the Ukrainian capital, killing one person and injuring eight, regional authorities reported, as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signaled Kyiv's openness to a potential Easter truce. The holiday is celebrated on April 12 in both Ukraine and Russia.
Another person died Friday after a Russian bomb struck an apartment block in northern Ukraine, according to local officials.
“The Kyiv region is once again under a massive Russian missile and drone attack," said Mykola Kalashnyk, head of the regional military administration, in a Telegram post on Friday morning.
According to Kalashnyk, one person died and at least eight more suffered injuries as a result of strikes on three of Kyiv's satellite towns — Bucha, Fastiv and Obukhiv. About 20 animals died after a veterinary clinic was struck, Kalashnyk added.
Ukraine's Foreign Minister, Andrii Sybiha, said in a post on X that “almost half a thousand drones and cruise missiles” attacked Ukraine overnight.
“This is how Moscow responds to Ukraine’s Easter ceasefire proposals — with brutal attacks,” Sybiha said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday signaled Kyiv's continued openness to a potential truce on Easter, which falls next week according to the Julian calendar followed by Orthodox churches in Ukraine and Russia.
Zelenskyy told reporters that the proposal had been communicated to Moscow through U.S. channels. He added that the Kremlin's response remains unclear.
Zelenskyy has previously offered a ceasefire for the Easter period — but Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said earlier this week that Moscow wants a lasting peace settlement, not a temporary truce.
President Vladimir Putin unilaterally declared a 30-hour ceasefire last Easter, but each side accused the other of breaking it.
One person died on Friday in Ukraine’s northern Sumy region, near the Russian border, after a Russian guided aerial bomb struck a residential block in the city of Shostka, local Gov. Oleh Hryhorov reported. He said three more people were hospitalized with injuries following the strike, including a 29-year-old woman whose condition was serious.
In Russia, 192 Ukrainian drones were shot down overnight over Russia and occupied Crimea, the Russian Defense Ministry reported on Friday morning.
Two people were hospitalized on Friday following a Ukrainian drone strike on the Leningrad region, over 1,100 kilometers (684 miles) from the border, regional Gov. Alexander Drozdenko reported. According to Drozdenko, the drones also set fire to an “unoccupied” building within the Morozov industrial zone.
The settlement of Morozov houses a state-owned plant that makes explosives and components for ammunition, including solid fuel used in Topol-M missile systems. The plant was put under U.S., EU and other Western sanctions following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Twelve people, including at least three Russian soldiers, were injured in a Ukrainian drone strike late Thursday on Russia’s Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine, local Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov reported. Separately, he said that seven people were wounded in the region after a drone struck a commercial facility.
Four drones were downed during the night on the approach to Moscow, mayor Sergei Sobyanin reported Friday. He did not reference any casualties or damage.
In this image made from video provided by Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Tuesday, March 31, 2026, Russian soldiers fire a grenade launcher towards Ukrainian positions on an undisclosed location in Ukraine. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)
