• UN rights chief launches $400 million appeal amid donor funding cuts
• Reduced funding slashes missions, staffing and investigations worldwide
• Sudan faces famine conditions as human rights and humanitarian needs surge

UN Human Rights Chief Volker Turk on Thursday, Feb. 5, launched a $400 million funding appeal to meet rapidly growing human rights protection needs in several countries facing major crises, including Sudan, Myanmar and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The appeal is $100 million lower than last year’s, reflecting a sharp fall in contributions from several donors, notably the United States and some European countries.

Human rights need you.

In 2025, @UNHumanRights supported hundreds of thousands of people – a lifeline for the abused & a voice for the silenced. But we are in survival mode. We need to step up investment in this low-cost, high-impact work.

➡️ Our appeal: https://t.co/YUTOzhQSPI pic.twitter.com/10pQZuzEW5

— Volker Türk (@volker_turk) February 5, 2026

“We are currently in survival mode, we are delivering under strain. And here are just some of the consequences of reduced funding. [...] With crises mounting, we cannot afford a human rights system in crisis,” Turk told delegates in Geneva.

Funding cuts have already significantly reduced the High Commissioner’s operational capacity. The number of missions to monitor human rights violations fell by more than half in 2025 compared with 2024, and the office scaled back its presence in 17 countries. In 2024, the agency also recorded a $90 million funding gap, leading to the elimination of 300 positions and directly undermining field operations.

In Myanmar, programmes were cut by more than 60%, severely limiting evidence collection. A UN investigation into alleged war crimes in the Democratic Republic of Congo is also struggling to become fully operational because of insufficient resources.

A particularly severe situation in Sudan

The warning comes as Sudan’s humanitarian situation deteriorates sharply. According to the latest assessment by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, the localities of Um Baru and Kernoi in North Darfur are now classified as being in famine. More than 21 million people are facing acute food insecurity nationwide. In several areas of Darfur and Kordofan, global acute malnutrition rates exceed 30%, a level associated with famine-like conditions, particularly among children and pregnant women.

Prolonged conflict has destroyed livelihoods, disrupted food systems and driven prices sharply higher. The collapse of essential services, including health care, water and sanitation, has further increased vulnerability, especially in besieged areas or locations with restricted humanitarian access.

“Behind these numbers are mothers, fathers and children whose lives are hanging by a thread,” said Richard Data, Sudan country director for the International Rescue Committee (IRC). “Without immediate, scaled-up humanitarian assistance, including cash, food, nutrition support, lifesaving health care, we risk seeing more communities fall into famine. [...] The international community must step up now with funding, negotiations with parties to the conflict and humanitarian support before even more lives are lost.”

The $400 million appeal aims to prevent a lasting erosion of the international human rights protection system at a time when crises are multiplying in Africa and elsewhere. Without a swift re-engagement by donors, investigative, preventive and humanitarian capacities will continue to shrink—while Sudan already illustrates the direct link between prolonged conflict, human rights abuses and famine.

Olivier de Souza