The United Nations’ top human rights official warned Wednesday that fundamental freedoms are being squeezed worldwide, battered by shrinking budgets, rising authoritarianism and a surge in anti-rights campaigns – even as young people mount one of the most energetic protest waves in years.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said global rights protections are “underfunded, undermined and under attack,” with his own office operating in “survival mode” amid a $90 million shortfall that has wiped out roughly 300 jobs and forced deep cuts to treaty-monitoring work.
He said the financial strain mirrors a broader collapse in humanitarian and civil society funding, while well-coordinated anti-rights groups have drawn nearly $1.2 billion in Europe alone since 2019.
Türk delivered his assessment on the eve of International Human Rights Day, framing a world where arms dealers flourish, rights defenders face arrest, and democratic institutions continue to erode under the pressure of war and repression.
Conflicts, he said, continue to devastate civilian populations.
In Gaza, ongoing Israeli attacks have inflicted what Türk called “unimaginable suffering,” with more than 70,400 Palestinians reported killed since October 2023.
Fighting in the West Bank has intensified, displacing thousands, while wars in Sudan and Ukraine continue to drive mass casualties and humanitarian emergencies.
In eastern Congo, renewed clashes with M23 rebels have deepened a crisis affecting more than 7 million people.
Yet Türk pointed to a countercurrent of hope: a global burst of youth-driven activism demanding accountability, economic fairness and free expression.
From Nepal to Peru, young protesters have organized street marches, campus sit-ins and social-media-led campaigns that have revived civic pressure in countries struggling with corruption, censorship and economic stagnation.
He highlighted movements in Nepal, Serbia, Madagascar, Kenya, Bangladesh, Ecuador, Paraguay, the Philippines, Indonesia, Tanzania, Morocco and Peru – many of them led by Generation Z.
In Kathmandu, more than 100,000 young people rallied this year against censorship and political patronage; in Madagascar, students challenged corruption and poverty; and in Kenya, mass demonstrations built on last year’s tax protests to confront police brutality and limited job prospects.
Youth movements across South America, North Africa and Southeast Asia have pressed for cleaner elections, judicial independence and education reforms, often at personal risk.
“I am energized by the social movements – particularly those led by young people,” Türk said. “They are writing the latest chapters in the time-honored struggle for our collective humanity and dignity.” He urged governments to engage these activists rather than dismiss them as security threats, calling them “the exact opposite” of destabilizing forces.
Türk also condemned the escalating mistreatment of migrants, citing “violent pushbacks, large-scale raids, arrests and returns without due process” as governments tighten border controls.
While naming no country, his remarks echoed contentious debates in the United States and the European Union, where sweeping enforcement efforts and offshore processing plans have drawn fierce criticism from rights groups.
In the U.S., stepped-up expulsions and enforcement initiatives have coincided with more than 2.5 million recorded border encounters this fiscal year.
Across Europe, new migration rules, return hubs in North Africa and falling asylum approval rates have raised fears of widespread violations of refugee protections.
Türk called for “evidence-based policy debates” grounded in international law, warning that incendiary rhetoric only fuels division and weakens public safety.
