Additional Context: In 2024, the U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, or OHCHR, contributed to the release of more than 3,000 arbitrarily detained people and supported 49,000 survivors of torture and their families through the Sub-Committee on Prevention of Torture. But according to OHCHR, cuts have forced discontinuing victims’ access to essential services, and fewer visits to prisons, police stations or other places where people are deprived of their liberty.

Devex Researcher Note: The OHCHR faced a $54.5 million regular budget shortfall and received $242 million less in voluntary contributions than requested in 2025. While framed as a multi-country issue with many donors pulling back, the funding gap was driven in large part by reductions in U.S. foreign assistance — historically the largest source of U.N. human rights funding.

Source: OHCHR