The UN’s liquidity crisis and broader funding cuts to international agencies and the non-profit sector continue to affect human rights work worldwide. It is estimated that the UN’s budget will decrease by 15% in 2026. The UN’s human rights pillar, which was already chronically under-funded compared to the other two pillars (development and peace & security), with less than 5% of the organisation’s budget, risks being disproportionately affected. The UN Secretary-General’s “UN80” initiative is unlikely to remedy this situation (even if some states pay their outstanding membership dues), as it outlines a plan focused on cutting funding across the UN system, including for human rights staff, reports, and mechanisms. Behind these figures, the jobs lost and the activities cancelled, it is rights-holders (including victims and survivors of violations) who are affected.

In this difficult context, the UN’s top human rights body, the Human Rights Council (HRC), continued to prove its relevance by addressing some of the world’s worst human rights crises. It did so by establishing or extending independent investigations (key examples are the new Afghanistan mechanism and the FFM for Sudan (see below)) and by reiterating the importance of accountability to find a sustainable solution to conflicts.

That said, as the HRC is about to turn 20, in early 2026, a rationalisation and efficiency effort is necessary. With close to 40 resolutions, the workload at HRC60 (8 September-8 October 2025) was beyond heavy. This is unsustainable, and all actors (including states and civil society) should reflect on priorities. The HRC excels at prevention (addressing crises at an early stage, based on early warning and risk factors of atrocities) and accountability (setting up investigating mechanisms), but it might be time for it to consider merging or discontinuing some of its special procedure mandates – and getting serious at setting clear thematic priorities.

The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) also has a role to play in strengthening the HRC. Against a backdrop of attacks against multilateralism, it has a responsibility to implement mandates set up by the HRC to address crises. This includes the Commission of Inquiry (COI) on violations in the eastern DRC. The OHCHR’s new Human Rights Inquiries Branch should, first and foremost, support these HRC-mandated investigations.

For DefendDefenders, HRC60 was one of its busiest sessions so far. We were active on several fronts. Building on our work ahead of the session, led by our Geneva office, we hosted groups of human rights defenders (HRDs) from Sudan and Burundi and conducted activities with experts from the HRC and the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR), in the framework of the “Addis Ababa Roadmap.” We also advocated for meaningful outcomes on Ethiopia and Somalia.

Sudan: as the war rages, investigations continue

During the summer, we fulfilled our traditional role of drafting and coordinating joint civil letters, laying the groundwork for in-session advocacy.

Our letter on Sudan, eventually endorsed by 107 civil society organisations, was innovative and ambitious. In addition to proposing a two-year extension for the mandate of the Fact-Finding Mission (FFM), it highlighted ways of increasing international attention to Sudan’s conflict and advancing the accountability agenda, including by: (i) “Enhancing” plenary debates to provide for the participation of civil society, victims and survivors; and (ii) Making recommendations to New York-based bodies (the UN General Assembly and, indirectly, the UN Security Council).

We drew additional attention to our initiative, and civil society’s asks, in an opinion piece I authored with our UN Representative and Senior Advocate & Researcher, Nicolas Agostini.

During the first week of HRC60 (8-12 September 2025), we hosted two HRDs, Niemat Ahmadi (Darfur Women Action Group, DWAG) and Mohamed Ali Mossaad (African Centre for Justice and Peace Studies, ACJPS). Together with Amnesty International, we coordinated engagements by a larger group of Sudanese HRDs. Throughout the week, HRDs met with a large number of states and experts. We also held a side event, moderated by our Advocacy, Research and Communications Manager, Estella Kansiime, which brought together HRDs and the Chair of the FFM for Sudan, Mohamed Chande Othman (photos can be found here). During the plenary debate with the FFM, Niemat delivered our oral statement.

The resolution adopted on 6 October at the initiative of the core group (UK, Germany, Ireland, Netherlands, and Norway) is strong and sends a clear message from the international community, two and a half years after the outbreak of fighting in Sudan. While the HRC did not heed all of civil society’s calls, it extended the FFM’s mandate (for one year) and condemned a litany of atrocities committed by all parties to the conflict. It also reiterated that accountability is central to any long-term solution to Sudan’s conflict – which we also stressed in a press release.  

Burundi: ten years on, the HRC maintains its scrutiny

Ten years after the start of the still unresolved 2015 crisis, Burundi has slipped down the list of the HRC’s priorities. Far from the attention it received in 2015-2016 (including during a special session and when a COI was established), Burundi is an under-addressed – or de-prioritised – crisis. It must not become a forgotten crisis.

In this year’s civil society’s letter, we adopted a “risk factor” approach, highlighting risks of violations and atrocities associated with elections. We called for an extension of the Special Rapporteur’s (SR) mandate – the only mechanism tasked with monitoring and reporting to the international community on Burundi’s human rights situation.

The SR is vital as the country has entered a long electoral period that will culminate with the 2027 presidential election. The resolution adopted on 6 October heeds our call to maintain scrutiny of the country at this critical time. As I highlighted in a press release, “[w]ithout [the SR’s mandate], the UN would be unable to monitor and respond to developments, including human rights abuses and their impact on Burundi’s stability and that of the wider Great Lakes region.”

This outcome is also the result of efforts by Burundian HRDs. During the session, in addition to directly supporting Marie Louise Baricako (President of Mouvement INAMAHORO), during Week 2 (15-19 September 2025), we coordinated engagements by a group of Burundian HRDs – making sure they meet with decision-makers (state representatives). They also took part in the plenary debate with the SR (our oral statement can be read here) and in a side event organised by our partner FIACAT. Marie Louise was also interviewed by Geneva Solutions – read it here.  

Somalia: a new approach

The Independent Expert (IE) on Somalia is one of the longest standing special procedures. Its mandate was established in 1993, at the time of the HRC’s predecessor, the UN Commission on Human Rights. This mandate is now phasing out its work as the HRC is changing its approach to addressing Somalia’s human rights situation.

In a resolution adopted by consensus, at the very end of HRC60, the Council decided to end the IE’s mandate and replace it with technical support and reporting by the OHCHR itself.

In a press release, we took note of the shift and highlighted that the international community should keep a spotlight on Somalia. Any technical support should be grounded in evidence of urgent human rights needs and, in this regard, “human rights defenders and the National Independent Human Rights Commission have a key role to play.”

By any standard, Somalia’s human rights situation remains among the most serious in the world. Dropping the ball is not an option. This is why we call on OHCHR to fully and transparently report on Somalia’s situation, with an open mind – re-establishing a mechanism or exploring other options (such as the opening an OHCHR country office) should remain on the table.

To successive mandate-holders, including the last one, Isha Dyfan, we say: Thank you for your work at the service of the Somali government and people.

Ethiopia: the HRC should define a path to a new resolution  

In addition to these three country priorities, we advocated for collective state action on Ethiopia. After the Council’s investigating mechanism on Ethiopia, ICHREE, was discontinued despite the release of a scathing final report, in 2023, Ethiopia’s human rights situation has fallen out of the multilateral radar. As we stressed, this is an anomaly.

Ahead of the session, together with NGO partners, we pushed states to define a credible path towards a new resolution on the country. These advocacy efforts led to an encouraging first step: a joint oral statement delivered by the EU and endorsed by a total of 42 states.

States’ and NGOs’ oral statements, meetings and briefings, as well as side events, must be tools to raise Ethiopia’s profile and push the Council to formulate an answer to the country’s human rights crisis, multiple armed conflicts raging across regions, and the risk of instability for the whole Horn of Africa region. Here again, OHCHR has a role to play. It should urgently release a public report on violations, also showing the failure of the transitional justice process and accountability mechanisms in the country.

Other files and engagements

At HRC60, no fewer than six African situations were on the Council’s agenda: Burundi, Somalia and Sudan, as outlined, but also the Central African Republic (CAR), the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and Libya.

While we did not directly engage in negotiations around resolutions on the DRC, we followed developments. We were glad to see that the DRC itself took the initiative of moving its resolution to the Council’s agenda item 4 (dedicated to the most serious situations) to demand the immediate operationalisation of the COI established during the special session of 7 February 2025. Setting up the COI is the High Commissioner’s responsibility, and he must urgently act to allocate staff and resources to this mechanism.

In the meantime, the OHCHR Fact-Finding Mission on South and North Kivu (OFFMK) will continue its work – before it gives way to the COI. At the same time, we are glad that technical assistance and capacity-building for the DRC will continue, through an item 10 resolution. We simply regret that the Team of Experts on the DRC will cease its work.

Our work with the UN human rights system finds its parallel at the African level, in particular through our engagement with the ACHPR (and its Commissioners and special mechanisms). To further advance the Addis Ababa Roadmap on cooperation between the special procedures of the HRC and the special mechanisms of the ACHPR, we held a side event to discuss joint work and avenues for collaboration, as well as a private retreat with UN and African experts and OHCHR’s Special Procedures Branch. During that retreat, we gathered input for an action plan for the next three years. Joint actions and efforts by UN and African experts are a way not only to advance human rights, prevention of violations, universality and complementarity, but also to strive towards efficiency — joint visits and missions, for instance, are cost-efficient. These are avenues to explore in a context of financial rationalisation.

Finally, let me highlight a few other files we worked on at HRC60:

§  As Tanzania’s presidential election approaches, we continued to draw attention to the country’s human rights situation, including enforced disappearances and attacks on civic space, exemplified by the unacceptable treatment meted out to Ugandan journalist Agather Atuhaire and Kenyan activist Boniface Mwangi.

§  In our statement under item 4’s general debate, we raised concerns about Ethiopia & South Sudan, but also grave situations across the African continent, namely Tunisia, the Sahel (including Burkina Faso, Mali & Niger), Mozambique, and Togo.

§  During the annual debate on reprisals against those who cooperate with the UN, we condemned ongoing reprisals against Kadar Abdi Ibrahim in Djibouti and mentioned other African states that are responsible for committing these unacceptable acts. For his part, the UN Secretary-General must continue to report on cases of ongoing reprisals. As we highlighted, “removing these cases from the [annual] report rewards offenders and sends the wrong message.” 

§  Last, the Defenders Coalition Kenya delivered our statement in response to the Kenyan government’s replies to recommendations it received during its last UPR review.

Going forward as DefendDefenders turns 20

The HRC’s 61^st session (February-April 2026) will have a focus on South Sudan – a country that needs the continued close attention of the international community and African Union.

Before that, we will be active at the 85^th ordinary session of the ACHPR, in Banjul (October 2025), and will mark our 20^th anniversary with celebrations in Kampala, in November 2025. 

Hassan Shire  

Executive Director, DefendDefenders

Chairperson, AfricanDefenders