{"id":24129,"date":"2026-02-23T15:30:54","date_gmt":"2026-02-23T13:30:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jhb-webdevelopers\/channelafrica\/news\/world-marks-20-years-of-un-human-rights-council-amid-rising-global-crises\/"},"modified":"2026-02-27T16:34:51","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T14:34:51","slug":"world-marks-20-years-of-un-human-rights-council-amid-rising-global-crises","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/news\/world-marks-20-years-of-un-human-rights-council-amid-rising-global-crises\/","title":{"rendered":"World marks 20 years of UN Human Rights Council amid rising global crises"},"content":{"rendered":"<div data-olk-copy-source=\"MessageBody\">Acknowledging what he called \u201cdizzying geopolitical uncertainty\u201d, \u00a0marked by conflict in Gaza, Myanmar, Ukraine, Sudan and beyond, UN Secretary\u2011General Ant\u00f3nio Guterres urged the Council to \u201chold the line\u201d on human rights, warning that these rights are under \u201cfull\u2011scale attack\u2026 often led by those who hold the greatest power\u201d.<\/div>\n<div data-olk-copy-source=\"MessageBody\"><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>On Ukraine specifically, Guterres noted that Tuesday, February 24, will mark four years since Russia\u2019s full\u2011scale invasion, a war that has killed more than 15 000 civilians. \u201cIt is more than past time to end the bloodshed,\u201d he insisted. His remarks were followed by UN Human Rights Chief Volker T\u00fcrk, who emphasised that any ceasefire or peace agreement must put human rights and justice at the centre.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Echoing these concerns, President of the UN General Assembly Annalena Baerbock said human rights are \u201cnot a spectator sport\u201d, adding that for Member States, ambassadors, ministers and UN officials, \u201csilence is a choice\u2026 and it has consequences\u201d.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\u201cHistory teaches us that large systems rarely collapse in one dramatic moment; they erode slowly, rule by rule, commitment by commitment, with those who should defend them choosing instead to stay silent. Until one day, what seemed permanent simply vanishes,\u201d she warned.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Baerbock highlighted the plight of Afghan women, who, under a new reported Taliban edict, may be beaten by their husbands, provided there are no visible marks.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\u201cWe should remember once and for all that appeasement in the face of the most severe human rights violations never prevails,\u201d she said. \u201cWe are witnessing a dramatic backlash not only against women\u2019s rights but also human rights more broadly, and the erosion of standards once believed to be set in stone.\u201d<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>&#8211;UN\/ChannelAfrica&#8211;<\/div>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":15710,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"news-type":[26],"class_list":["post-24129","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-general_news","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"In Geneva, delegates from more than 120 countries gathered on Monday to mark 20 years of the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council and to reaffirm their commitment to international law, at a time of runaway global instability, escalating wars and resurgent conflicts.","published_date":null,"news_description":"In Geneva, delegates from more than 120 countries gathered on Monday to mark 20 years of the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council and to reaffirm their commitment to international law, at a time of runaway global instability, escalating wars and resurgent conflicts.","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/24129","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/24129\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26903,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/24129\/revisions\/26903"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15710"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24129"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=24129"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}