Funding sources

Special procedures mandate-holders of the Human Rights Council conduct their activities within the framework of the resolutions establishing their mandates, a formal code of conduct established by the Human Rights Council, regulations of the UN General Assembly, and standard working methods. Special procedures mandate-holders are independent experts appointed by the Human Rights Council. They are not UN staff members. They work pro bono and do not receive a salary for their work. They serve in an independent capacity.

The activities of special procedures mandates are funded through a combination of the UN regular budget and voluntary contributions from States and others to the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) in accordance with UN Human Rights Council Resolution 16/21, Section II C. These funds are intended to support the work of the mandates — including research, travel, consultations and administrative support — and are not remuneration to mandate-holders.

Regular budget (RB) resources cover the mandated activities of mandate holders and are distributed evenly across mandates, in line with the resolutions establishing the mandates and their related programme budget implications. RB resources cover travel of mandate holders to Geneva to present reports to the Human Rights Council or attend meetings, including the Annual Meeting of Special Procedures, to New York to present reports to the General Assembly; for Working Group sessions; and two country visits per mandate per year. Official country visits are exclusively covered by RB. In addition, RB resources are provided for additional activities mandated by the Council or the General Assembly, including the holding of consultations or to prepare studies.

As the RB provisions are not sufficient to provide the necessary support to special procedures, voluntary contributions are used to provide additional support. These contributions received by OHCHR can be earmarked or unearmarked and are strictly governed by UN financial rules, policies and oversight mechanisms. They do not give donors any role in the appointment, direction, priorities, findings or conclusions of mandate holders.

In addition, mandate-holders may receive external contribution and support directly, including in-kind support. For example, some mandate holders are employed by universities that may allow them to use university facilities or research assistance for mandate-related activities. External support received by Special Procedures mandate-holders – including in-kind support – is declared transparently each year in the addendum to the annual report on Special Procedures presented to the Human Rights Council. Information on mandate activities and external support can be found in the latest annual report and accompanying Facts and Figures document: A/HRC/61/66, / A/HRC/61/66/Add.1. The decision to disclose external sources of funding to UN Human Rights Council Member States on an annual basis was made by Special Procedures mandate-holders in an effort to promote transparency and accountability. The funding has been annually disclosed to the Human Rights Council since 2015.

There is full transparency about the resources available for special procedures. All information about the regular budget allocations, the voluntary contributions received by the Office for special procedures or the external resources received by mandate holders directly are available in the report of activities of OHCHR or in the annual report of special procedures presented to the Human Rights Council at every March session. These transparency and disclosure processes are part of the broader framework established by the Human Rights Council and special procedures themselves to preserve the independence and integrity of the Special Procedures system.