China, Russia Push to Defund UN Human Rights Amid Budget Crisis

China and Russia have been actively working to undermine the United Nations' human rights efforts by attempting to block or cut funding for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) through strategic maneuvers in UN budget negotiations. These efforts, detailed in a report by the International Service for Human Rights (ISHR), include leveraging budget committees such as the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions and the General Assembly's Fifth Committee to limit investigations into abuses in countries like Ukraine, Belarus, Venezuela, North Korea, and others. Despite China increasing its UN budget contributions, it uses its financial influence to restrict human rights oversight, while Russia vocally supports cuts that protect its interests and those of allied regimes. This coordinated campaign, framed as a push for efficiency and development priorities, reflects a broader trend prioritizing state sovereignty and non-interference over global human rights accountability. The actions by China and Russia, combined with budget cuts from the Trump administration, pose an existential threat to the UN's human rights pillar amid a deepening financial crisis. While China dismisses these accusations as groundless, experts warn that these budgetary blockages jeopardize ongoing and future UN human rights activities and call for reforms to protect these mechanisms.