As crises mount, Volker Türk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, has told UN News there needs to be greater openness and accountability, warning that the world faces a critical turning point in the fight for human rights.

While human rights mechanisms have played a crucial role in preventing conflicts and atrocities, he expressed deep concern over the speed of escalation, emphasising that it is not rights themselves that are in crisis, but a lack of political leadership to enforce them.

In an interview with UN News’s Nargiz Shekinskaya at UN Headquarters in New York, Mr. Türk discussed the impact of current crises, including the erosion of international law, the role of technology and rising authoritarianism.