{"id":458040,"date":"2026-06-25T15:33:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-25T13:33:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/2026\/06\/25\/diritti-umani-turk-onu-necessita-umanitarie-per-il-2026-pari-a-tre-giorni-di-spesa-militare-globale\/"},"modified":"2026-06-25T16:16:12","modified_gmt":"2026-06-25T14:16:12","slug":"human-rights-turk-un-humanitarian-needs-for-2026-amount-to-three-days-worth-of-global-military-spending","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/2026\/06\/25\/human-rights-turk-un-humanitarian-needs-for-2026-amount-to-three-days-worth-of-global-military-spending\/","title":{"rendered":"Human rights, T\u00fcrk (UN): \u201cHumanitarian needs for 2026 amount to three days\u2019 worth of global military spending\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brussels \u2013 \u201cIt is important to be vigilant, within the European Union, regarding the tendency to marginalise civic space<\/a>, to restrict freedom of association and expression, or to impose restrictions on the work of NGOs.\u201d This was stated by Volker T\u00fcrk<\/strong>, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, at the joint hearing <\/a>to the European Parliament\u2019s Committee on International Affairs and its Subcommittee on Human Rights. \u201cI am concerned<\/strong>,\u201d explained T\u00fcrk, \u201cthat some of the trends we are seeing globally may, to some extent, also have an impact within the EU<\/strong>.\u201d<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

The High Commissioner referred to the \u201cshrinking of civic space globally<\/strong><\/span>,\u201d noting that today \u201conly 7 per cent of the world\u2019s population lives in effectively functioning democracies.\u201d This figure is worrying because \u201ca few years ago it was 12.5 per cent\u201d and, therefore, \u201cthere has been a regression<\/strong>\u201d which often begins precisely<\/strong> \u201cwith restrictions on civic space<\/strong>, when dialogue is stifled, and people end up in echo chambers, when no compromise is reached, when people do not listen to one another, and debate is no longer possible.\u201d <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

According to T\u00fcrk, this trend is also evident \u201cin relation to restrictions and laws on foreign agents and attacks on independent media.\u201d Looking at last year alone, preliminary data collected by the UN for 2025 <\/strong><\/span>\u201cindicates that around 950 human rights defenders, journalists, and trade unionists were killed or forcibly disappeared<\/strong><\/span>,\u201d a figure \u201cmore than double that of ten years ago.\u201d<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

He then issued a warning: \u201cNo country, no continent, is immune to these trends.\u201d Groups \u201copposed to rights are increasingly well-connected and coordinated; they operate across borders and move vast sums of money.\u201d Europe, therefore, must be \u201ca bulwark\u201d to counter these dynamics. \u201cIt often starts with issues of gender equality<\/strong>,\u201d T\u00fcrk pointed out, \u201c with attacks on minorities<\/strong>, with attacks on migrants and refugees<\/strong>, and with a growing use of offensive language and imagery that portrays people, human beings<\/strong>, in a way that dehumanises them<\/strong><\/span>.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

 On 15 June, the High Commissioner presented her annual report to the Human Rights Council. Among other issues, she also focused on the situation in the Middle East and cited some figures. In Gaza, \u201cIsraeli forces have killed nearly a thousand Palestinians since the ceasefire announced last October, the vast majority of whom were civilians.\u201d In Lebanon, \u201caround 3,600 people have been killed and more than a million have been displaced.\u201d According to T\u00fcrk<\/strong>, the European debate on Gaza and the West Bank lacks <\/strong>\u201ca discussion based on the impact, pain, and suffering of the people<\/strong>\u201d and dehumanisation is rife<\/strong>. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The figures emerging from the report on humanitarian funding are, moreover, staggering. \u201cTotal humanitarian needs for this year amount to just three days\u2019 worth of global military spending<\/strong><\/span>,\u201d said T\u00fcrk. An even more telling figure concerns his own office: the funds required by the OHCHR (Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights) for the whole year, he emphasised, <\/strong>\u201care less than what the world spends on weapons and soldiers in two hours<\/strong><\/span>.\u201d And the consequences of this imbalance are already visible: cuts to aid are having <\/strong>\u201ca catastrophic impact on human rights<\/strong><\/span>,\u201d with a real risk that poverty, hunger, and forced migration will increase dramatically. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

In this context, the Global Alliance for Human Rights<\/a>, presented on 11 July, is described as \u201ca concrete response to the global human rights crisis.\u201d The aim is ambitious: not a bureaucratic exercise, but <\/strong><\/span>\u201cone of renewal and revitalisation<\/strong><\/span>,” capable of bringing together governments, businesses, civil society, and parliaments under a single, broad umbrella. \u201cOver the next two years, this alliance will become a hive of activity, with various groups and communities around the world forging new connections and partnerships,\u201d explained T\u00fcrk. The European Parliament, the High Commissioner emphasised, is one of the Alliance\u2019s key stakeholders: \u201cWe will continue to be a strategic partner of the EU on human rights, supporting responsible governance and promoting inclusive approaches.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights issued an appeal during a meeting at the European Parliament: \u201cWe must be vigilant, within the EU, against the tendency to marginalise civic space, to restrict freedom of association and expression, or to impose restrictions on the work of NGOs.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7911,"featured_media":458024,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"format":"standard","override":[{"template":"1","parallax":"1","fullscreen":"1","layout":"right-sidebar","sidebar":"default-sidebar","second_sidebar":"default-sidebar","sticky_sidebar":"1","share_position":"top","share_float_style":"share-monocrhome","show_featured":"1","show_post_meta":"1","show_post_author":"1","show_post_author_image":"1","show_post_date":"1","post_date_format":"default","post_date_format_custom":"Y\/m\/d","show_post_category":"1","show_post_reading_time":"0","post_reading_time_wpm":"300","post_calculate_word_method":"str_word_count","show_zoom_button":"0","zoom_button_out_step":"2","zoom_button_in_step":"3","show_post_tag":"1","show_prev_next_post":"1","show_popup_post":"1","show_comment_section":"1","number_popup_post":"1","show_author_box":"0","show_post_related":"1","show_inline_post_related":"0"}],"image_override":[{"single_post_thumbnail_size":"crop-500","single_post_gallery_size":"crop-500"}],"trending_post_position":"meta","trending_post_label":"Trending","sponsored_post_label":"Sponsored by","disable_ad":"0","subtitle":""},"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_override_counter":{"view_counter_number":"0","share_counter_number":"0","like_counter_number":"0","dislike_counter_number":"0"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[29788,25681],"tags":[25871,34613,25755,26868,26456,33394],"class_list":["post-458040","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-diritti-en","category-politics","tag-alto-commissario-onu","tag-news-parliament-en","tag-human-rights-en","tag-onu-en","tag-ue"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/458040","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7911"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=458040"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/458040\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":458041,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/458040\/revisions\/458041"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/458024"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=458040"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=458040"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=458040"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}