Press Release
Published on January 9, 2026
Washington, D.C. – Human Rights First deplores President Trump’s reckless decision to defund and withdraw from multilateral organizations and processes integral to supporting the rule of law, justice, equality, and peaceful resolution of conflict globally. Many of these entities, including the Freedom Online Coalition, the Venice Commission, the International Law Commission, and the International Development Law Organization, have played vital roles in advancing human rights worldwide. Human Rights First has led an effort, joined by over 300 civil society organizations, to bolster international support for human rights treaties and the institutions that promote their implementation.
“Multilateral cooperation is central to the international human rights system that the United States helped build over successive Republican and Democrat-led administrations, a leadership legacy that the Trump administration appears hell-bent on extinguishing,” said Uzra Zeya, President and CEO of Human Right First. “The organizations slandered and repudiated by the White House make important contributions to Americans’ security, prosperity, and freedom – from curbing rights-abusing technology and corruption, to protecting survivors of conflict-related sexual violence, and supporting successful transitions from authoritarian to democratic governance over decades. U.S. retreat leaves the field to U.S. adversaries to further extend influence in the multilateral system.”
The consequences of this move will be felt most acutely by those already at greatest risk—children, women, and marginalized communities—through the erosion of protections for education, health, gender equality, and fundamental freedoms. “This is not happening in a vacuum,” Zeya added. “The same day this announcement was made, President Trump called for a record $1.5 trillion military budget and threatened multiple countries with military action. Gutting human rights and peacebuilding institutions while escalating militarization makes the world less safe.”
Human Rights First calls on Congress to exercise immediate oversight of the administration’s actions and to protect its constitutionally mandated appropriations authority, while urging lawmakers to reaffirm the United States’ commitment to international human rights norms and institutions. We also urge the international community to continue defending these essential mechanisms and to stand firm in protecting universal human rights.
