Government Human rights: New player in Geneva to bring fresh impetus
The new Geneva Human Rights Hub (GHRH) is intended to step in where the UN is unable to make progress on human rights issues. The new office took up its work at the beginning of January.
15.04.2026, 15:45
15.04.2026, 15:46
SDA
This four-person post is half funded by the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) on a project basis. It is a start against the tide, as the UN is currently facing a liquidity crisis, including in the area of human rights.
At the heart of the new center's work is the multitude of committees and technical mechanisms that assess these rights worldwide from Geneva. The time between the submission of reports by states and their hearing is steadily increasing, sometimes up to eight years. And the various UN mandates are working separately rather than together.
"States are no longer as willing to fund this system," Felix Kirchmeier, director of the Geneva Human Rights Hub (GHRH), told the Keystone-SDA news agency on Wednesday. "Even the most benevolent ones."
Driving forward networking
Kirchmeier wants to improve networking between the various players in the field of human rights. In June, he and Switzerland will bring together various states, UN committee chairs and civil society on Mount Rigi in the canton of Lucerne.
Numerous local and regional authorities, which are often at the forefront of implementing the recommendations, are calling to be included or to be able to influence their country's hearings, according to the GHRH Director. This has been particularly true in the US since Donald Trump's administration decided last November to boycott human rights reviews by other countries.
