OHCHR receives about one third of its funding needs from the United Nations regular budget which is approved by the General Assembly every two years. The amount of regular budget funding appropriated for use by OHCHR has increased gradually since 2005, when leaders attending the World Summit supported a commitment to double funding for the Office over five years. Nevertheless, despite this recent increase, the proportion of the overall UN regular budget devoted to human rights remains small, at just 2.8 per cent, or US$ 142 743 800, of the total 2010-2011 biennium budget.

The other two thirds of OHCHR’s budget needs are met from voluntary contributions by Member States and other donors. The level of voluntary funding increased strongly between 2005 and 2009. In 2010 however, OHCHR noticed the effects of the global economic downturn and saw, for the first time since 2005, a noticeable decrease in voluntary contributions – from US$ 118 million in 2009 to US$ 109 million in 2010.

The share of funding provided without earmarking accounts for around 56 per cent. Unearmarked funding has risen steadily in recent years, from 20 per cent in 2004 to 56 per cent in 2009. The High Commissioner uses every opportunity to appeal to donors to provide more of their support without earmarking, thereby giving the Office more flexibility and autonomy in allocating resources.

About 58 per cent of voluntary funding is used to support work in almost 60 field presences which receives little support from the regular budget. The remainder is distributed between other areas of the Office’s work.

Trust funds

OHCHR acts as the secretariat for three humanitarian trust funds: the Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture, the Voluntary Trust Fund on Contemporary Forms of Slavery and the Voluntary Fund for Indigenous Populations. The funds were established by General Assembly resolutions with the purpose of making resources available to support individuals, organizations and activities to advance specific human rights issues. Each fund is governed by a Board of Trustees that distributes the funds through grants, in accordance with the fund’s mandate.

OHCHR funding overview 2000-2010
Data as per 31 December 2010

Earmarked versus unearmarked funding 2000-2010
Data as per 31 December 2010