Countries placing human rights at risk by delaying UN membership payments

Date: 12th October 2020
Category: Reporting to and monitoring the UNCRC

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Child Rights Connect is calling upon governments to pay their UN membership contributions in full. Currently only 122 out of 193 member states have made payment in full. Delays to payments inhibit human rights mechanisms from carrying out their fundamental functions, which is even more vital in the midst of the global human rights crisis exacerbated by COVID-19.

Child Rights Connect highlights that 2020 figure (122) falls short of the number of countries that had paid their contributions by the same date in 2019 (127) and 2018 (141). Its calls echo those of the Chairpersons’ of the UN Treaty Bodies, High-Commissioner for Human Rights and Coordination Committee of Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council.  

Child Rights Connect is equally concerned about this trend as the funding shortfall is undermining the UN system and multilateralism. A direct result of this shortfall will be the cancellation of the third sessions of the Human Rights Treaty Bodies. Child Rights Connect says this would be unprecedented and would place the human rights system in jeopardy, further weaken accountability mechanisms such as the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, which are already significantly underfunded and subsequently place children’s rights at risk.

• Read Child Rights Connects call to governments here.
• Read more about this issue here.