Voting behaviour in the UN Human Rights Council in 2022: in relation to Germany and China The Map of the Month January illustrates the joint voting behaviour of the Members of the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) with Germany and China in 2022. A total of 97 resolutions were adopted in the UN Human Rights Council, of which 33 were put to a vote due to lack of consensus. Besides the EU member states, Japan, South Korea, Ukraine, the UK and the USA voted most often with Germany; Cameroon, Uzbekistan, Sudan or China the least. Of all African Council members, Malawi voted most often with Germany. On the other hand, Venezuela, Eritrea, Russia, Bolivia and Cuba voted most often with China, while EU member states, South Korea, Japan and Ukraine rarely did so, and the USA, the UK, the Czech Republic and the Marshall Islands never. After the Russian attack on Ukraine which lead to the suspension of Russia’s right to membership, the Czech Republic replaced Russia with full voting rights at the 50th and 51st session in the Group of Eastern European States.
Voluntary contributions to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in 2022 Every year on 10 December, Human Rights Day is observed, the day the UN General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) in 1948. While the 75th anniversary of the UDHR will be celebrated in 2023, its promises have been under a sustained assault in recent years. Although human rights constitute one of the three pillars of the UN, along with development, and peace and security, only 7% of the regular UN budget is allocated to human rights and only around 3% to the Office of the High Commissioner (OHCHR), the leading UN entity on human rights. Hence, OHCHR relies heavily on voluntary contributions by Member States and other donors which make up almost two thirds of OHCHR’s income. Out of the 211 Mio. USD received in 2022, the European Commission (30 Mio.), Sweden (28,8), the USA (27,8), Norway (19), Netherlands (15), Germany (12,6) and Switzerland (19) alone gave around 62%.
Donor and Recipient countries and progress of appeals Humanitarian aid worldwide in 2022 On December 1, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), led by Martin Griffiths, presented its new Global Humanitarian Overview (GHO) for 2023. OCHA estimates that 339 million people will need humanitarian assistance in the upcoming year, an increase of around 20% compared to the beginning of 2022. This is 1/23 people worldwide. To reach the 230 million in 69 countries who are at the sharpest edge of suffering, $51.1 billion will be needed, $10.5 billion or 25% more than the year before. In the last 5 years alone, the number of people in need has doubled. While the amount of money needed has risen accordingly, the number of donor countries has remained relatively small (the US provides nearly half of the funds to date, Germany is by far the second largest donor, and the EU Commission is in third place). Hence, there is a huge funding gap: in 2022, only 47% of the funds required were actually received. 10 country situations alone, most of them war and conflict situations, require around USD 30 billion. In addition, climate change and the secondary consequences of the Ukraine are considered reasons for the sharp increase.
35th Special Session of UN Human Rights Council on Islamic Republic of Iran In light of the violent crackdown on protests following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in Iran, Germany and Iceland on 11 November officially requested to hold a special session of the UN Human Rights Council to address the increasingly deteriorating human rights situation, “especially with respect to women and children”. The 35th special session, which was the first one held on Iran, took place on 24 November. Prior to the debate, the initiative has received the support of a total of 51 states: 17 Council members and 34 observer states. According to UN figures, well over 300 people have been killed so far and tens of thousands have been arrested, many possibly facing the death penalty. Numerous UN special rapporteurs and working groups had called for the session to be held and for an international investigation mechanism to be established. With 25 votes in favor, 6 against and 16 abstentions, the Council indeed established an independent international fact finding mission to investigate alleged violations related to the protests that began on 16 September 2022. In the last minute, China had put forward an oral amendment which aimed at abolishing the mechanism. It was rejected with 6 to 25 and 15 abstentions.