UN rights office in ‘very serious’ financial situation

Swiss daily Le Temps reported on Thursday that “a wind of panic” was sweeping over the agency, suggesting it was considering relocating away from pricey Geneva to Vienna, Nairobi and other sites. (AFP/File)

• The rights agency, which counts 2,000 employees, including around 900 in Geneva, has yet to announce any layoffs

GENEVA:The UN rights office based in Geneva says it is facing a dire financial situation amid deep US funding cuts, but its chief insisted there is no “panic.”
News reports this week suggested that the funding chaos gripping the United Nations had left its human rights agency panicked over a dramatic budget shortfall.
“I have seen and read all sorts of unfounded rumors: that we are all moving to Vienna, that 70 percent of staff will move to the field except management,” UN rights chief Volker Turk told a town hall meeting with staff on Thursday, according to excerpts seen by AFP.
“None of this is true.”
Swiss daily Le Temps reported on Thursday that “a wind of panic” was sweeping over the agency, suggesting it was considering relocating away from pricey Geneva to Vienna, Nairobi and other sites.
Reports of mass layoffs and cuts to operations have become commonplace at UN agencies since US President Donald Trump’s return to power in January.
He has moved to slash the amount of money his country gives to UN agencies — reversing America’s previous status as the largest contributor to many of their budgets.
The rights agency, which counts 2,000 employees, including around 900 in Geneva, has yet to announce any layoffs, but Turk acknowledged it was facing “a very complex time.”
Spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani also told AFP the agency was “in a very serious financial situation,” but stressed: “We are not in a state of panic.”
“That was a regrettable and unfair characterization,” she said.
“We are clearly facing unprecedented crises, but it is our response to these difficult times that defines us as an organization,” she said.
In his remarks at Thursday’s town hall, Turk stressed that the agency had had an “organizational effectiveness exercise” in the works for a while, denying that plans to relocate more staff from Geneva were sparked by a UN-wide overhaul.
“We had already foreseen decentralization of certain functions,” he said.
“We remain committed to this approach of shifting relevant functions and posts to the regional offices, so that we can deliver more effectively worldwide. This includes moving managerial posts.”
Turk stressed that “the move to strengthen our regional presences has already been endorsed by the General Assembly, most recently in relation to our presences in Brussels, Beirut, Bangkok, Panama City, Dakar, Pretoria, Nassau and Yaounde.”
The UN-wide initiative launched by Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in March to streamline operations as world body grapples with new budget realities “can help us build on this momentum,” Turk said.