Donor situation

The global recession affected OHCHR for the first time in 2010, with voluntary contributions slipping from US$118 million in 2009 to US$ 109 million in 2010. It will be a key challenge to reverse this situation in 2011, but with the support of the High Commissioner, the Donor and External Relations Section (DEXREL) hopes to be able to increase again the level of the extra-budgetary funding, as teh Office is facing increasing demands every day, especially since the beginning of 2011 (Arab spring, Middle east, Côte d'Ivoire, Sudan etc).

Funding needs

OHCHR, never over-resourced, is today stretched to breaking point. In order to carry out just the extra work, we have no dedicated capacity to research on a whole range of important issues such as children’s rights; juvenile justice; corporate responsibility in relation to activities that impact on indigenous peoples; and the human rights implications of the expansion of new media, including the impact of the great digital divide on marginalized groups. Many of the field presences are understaffed, and so are the Headquarters sections supporting them. During these extraordinary times in North Africa and the Middle East, we have not been able to reinforce the offices dealing with this region.

Our original extra-budgetary total for 2011 – before the Commissions of Inquiry, the new offices in Tunis and Cairo, and before all the tasks given to OHCHR by the Human Rights Council – stood at around USD 130 million. With all these extra tasks it has already crept up to around USD 150 million, yet the message we are getting from donors is that there will only be between USD 105-110 million available. We urge all Member States to increase their contributions.

Over the past two years our total annual budget – both regular and extra-budgetary – stands at USD 202 million per year. It sounds a lot. But, in reality, it is not. It is reportedly about the same amount as Australians spend on Easter eggs. It is and about the same as the cost of three F-16 jet-fighters. It is one 50th of the 2010 cinema box office revenues in the United States; and the amount Europeans spent on their pets in 2010 alone (Euros 56.8 billion) would fund the entire UN human rights system for something like 250 years...

One of OHCHR’s immediate funding requirements is also support for its website. As our work continues to expand, so does the need for more effective information share and management. With this objective in mind, we are in the process of updating our website. As an initial step, a roadmap, partly funded by the European Commission, has been produced. This sets out a phased approach to the web upgrade, including a strategy, governance, design and implementation. We strongly believe a richer, more user-friendly website will benefit all our users; governments, NGOs, civil society, the media and the general public; and we therefore encourage donors to help us with this specific funding.

Top 10 Donors in 2010

Amounts are in US dollars

Data as per 30 June 2011.