UN rights chief: US funding cuts, not fatal

By Fatih Erel

ANKARA

The UN human rights chief Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein said on Wednesday that the planned U.S. funding cuts for his office would not be "fatal".

Speaking in Geneva in his last press conference as the UN human rights chief, al-Hussein said the UN human rights office would continue to survive even if the U.S. cuts to its funding of his office.

He called on other countries not to follow the same path.

Last Thursday, U.S. President Donald Trump's national security advisor John Bolton said the U.S. would cut funding for the UN human rights office.

The U.S. provides around 22 percent of the UN budget.