HUMAN RIGHTS HAUNT : PRECIS

GENEVA : Human rights work globally '' in survival mode '' : United Nations.

The United Nations warned on Monday that human rights work globally is fighting for its survival, as funding woes and rollbacks of accountability laws limit the ability to address widespread abuses.

UN rights chief Volker Turk said his office, which is among a slew of international organisations hit by a global funding crisis, was '' on its knees ''.

'' The entire human rights ecosystem is in survival mode,'' he told a meeting of the UN's business and human rights forum in Geneva.

The UN as a whole is mulling reforms, including a 15-percent cut across 2026 budget, to tackle chronic liquidity problems exacerbated by US President Donald Trump's policy.

The United States - the UN's biggest contributor - paused funding after Trump returned to power in January.

Funding for the UN's human rights work has long been chronically underfunded, and the cuts now being discussed could take a particularly heavy toll on the UN rights-office.

The agency has received just 73 percent of member states promised regular budget contributions for  2025, leaving $67 million unpaid, after already seeing tens of millions of dollars in US voluntary funds evaporate this year.

The World Students Society thanks AFP.