UN80 reform: States endorse slashing of human rights budget

States at the UN General Assembly’s Fifth Committee (5C) – the UN’s main budgetary body – approved a budget for 2026, agreeing on significant budget cuts under the first stage of the UN80 Initiative process (also known as ‘Workstream 1’).

The resolution approving the UN’s 2026 budget largely endorses the recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ) – an advisory body to the Fifth Committee – which had endorsed and expanded upon a proposal made by Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in September to reflect efficiencies sought under UN80 reform.

The UN’s regular budget is funded by Member States’ assessed contributions. Its allocation is decided by Member States at the Fifth Committee, on the basis of a budget proposal by the Secretary-General, and recommendations by the ACABQ, a little-known yet powerful committee that regularly cuts human rights budgets.

The Secretary-General’s revised ‘UN80’ proposal released in September called for eliminating 105 posts at the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) as part of a 15% reduction in its overall budget, compared to the original budget for 2026 released earlier in 2025. The ACABQ’s report, circulated in early December, endorsed the Secretary-General’s proposed cuts, and recommended a further 11% in post reductions at OHCHR, bringing the total cut to OHCHR posts to some 16.7% (117 posts). These further reductions deepen the reform’s disproportionate impact on the UN’s human rights pillar.