UN Geneva - Multimedia Newsroom : HRC58 - UN Human Rights High Commissioner Volker Türk global update speech

“Our world is going through a period of turbulence and unpredictability, reflected in growing conflict and divided societies,” Türk said.

“We cannot allow the fundamental global consensus around international norms and institutions, built painstakingly over decades, to crumble before our eyes,” he said.

“War is the ultimate violation of human rights,” Türk warned, noting that according to the International Committee of the Red Cross, 120 conflicts rage around the world.

“Conflict causes chaos – but it arises from its own twisted logic. Some people – autocrats, demagogues, profiteers – benefit from that chaos, whether through divide and rule tactics, predatory business practices, or simple theft,” Türk said.

“Conflict bleeds into all our lives, from the products we buy to the newsfeeds we scroll; from minerals mined in war zones, to the so-called bot farms and scam centres that flourish in the most lawless corners of the world,” he added.

We all have a responsibility to act – through our consumption habits, our social media use, and our political and social engagement, the High Commissioner said.

Around the world, civil society, lawyers and victims are calling on warring parties to respect international law and pursue avenues of accountability. States need to be put on notice that the world is watching, including on arms transfers to conflict zones.

“An absence of accountability leads directly to an absence of peace. And yet, a tireless search for peace is what the world needs most. Pre-emptive strikes cannot replace preventive diplomacy,” Türk said.

“For millions of people around the world, war has become a simple, devastating fact of life. This should shake us all. We need to build peace from the ground up; to grasp it, nurture it, protect it, and promote it, at every opportunity. Bring warring parties to the table. Ensure that women are involved from beginning to end. Build peace around human rights,” he said.

“Even in societies that are nominally at peace, people are feeling insecure and unmoored. Communities and societies struggle with polarisation and division – which are anathema to human rights,” the UN Human Rights Chief highlighted.

“I have followed recent election campaigns in Europe, North America and beyond with increasing trepidation. Single-issue soundbites devoid of substance oversimplify complex issues and are often based on scapegoating, disinformation, and dehumanization,” he said.

“Dehumanization is a well-worn step towards treating an entire group as outsiders, unworthy of the basic rights we all enjoy. It is a dangerous precursor to hate and violence and must be called out whenever it occurs.”

The High Commissioner voiced his concern about the resurgence in some quarters of toxic ideas about masculinity, and efforts to glorify gender stereotypes, especially among young men. It is shocking, he said, that misogynistic influencers have millions of followers on social media and are hailed as heroes in some quarters. Online and offline, these ideas are translating into a wider pushback against gender equality, as well as violence and hateful rhetoric against women, women’s rights defenders, and women politicians.

Türk said today’s massive shifts and profound transformations have left people in many countries around the world feeling alienated and abandoned.

“My response is: your concerns are our concerns, because they are about human rights - to education, to health, to housing, to free speech, and access to justice. Human rights are about people’s daily concerns for their families and their future,” he said.

“Human rights can never be played off against each other; they reinforce each other and reveal how we are all connected. The solution to today’s pervasive unease lies in more respect for human rights, not less,” he said.

Today, power dynamics are changing. Individuals and corporations have never had so much control and influence over our lives, Türk flagged.

“A handful of unelected tech oligarchs have our data: they know where we live, what we do, our genes and our health conditions, our thoughts, our habits, our desires and our fears. They know us better than we know ourselves. And they know how to manipulate us. Any form of unregulated power can lead to oppression, subjugation, and even tyranny – the playbook of the autocrat,” he said.

States must fulfil their duty to protect people from unchecked power, and work together to achieve this, he said.

The response to all the challenges he had outlined, Türk stressed, was the value of science, knowledge and facts, and a clear, unequivocal commitment to the rule of law, to transparency, and to independent institutions, all anchored in human rights.

“We must inspire with our values and demonstrate that human rights are a winning proposition for humanity. We must cherish the values of respect, unity and solidarity; and work together for a safer, more just, more sustainable world. We can and will persevere,” Türk concluded.

For more information and media requests, please contact

Ravina Shamdasani - + 41 22 917 9169 / ravina.shamdasani@un.org

Liz Throssell + 41 22 917 9296 / elizabeth.throssell@un.org

Jeremy Laurence - + 41 22 917 9383 / jeremy.laurence@un.org

Thameen Al-Kheetan - + - +41 22 917 4232 / thameen.alkheetan@un.org

Seif Magango Tel: +41 79 752 0488 / seif.magango@un.org

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