Check against delivery

Explanation of vote by the delegation of Ukraine (before the vote) at the resumed 20th formal meeting 

of the Fifth Committee on draft resolution A/C.5/80/L.12 under agenda item 136 

“Proposed programme budget for 2026: revised estimates resulting from resolutions and decisions adopted

 by the Human Rights Council at its fifty-eighth, fifty-ninth and sixtieth regular sessions and thirty-seventh special session”

(30 December 2025)

Madam Chair,

The delegation of Ukraine strongly opposes draft resolution L.12, which seeks to block funding for several Human Rights Council resolutions.

The role of the Fifth Committee is to ensure adequate funding for the implementation of United Nations mandates, not to politicize or undermine mechanisms designed to uphold human rights.

The resolutions targeted by draft L.12 established essential investigative and accountability mechanisms in line with the Council’s core mandate to promote and protect human rights. These mechanisms are indispensable for documenting the most serious violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law and for preserving evidence. They ensure that victims’ rights to truth, accountability and justice are upheld.

For victims and survivors, these mechanisms often represent the only path to justice. Attempts to defund them undermine these rights and risk delaying or denying accountability for the most serious crimes. Such actions weaken the credibility of the United Nations and contradict our shared commitment to uphold human rights and the rule of law.

Distinguished colleagues,

Among the resolutions targeted by draft L.12 are Human Rights Council resolutions 55/23 and 58/24, which extended the mandate of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine. These resolutions address the gravest situation of human rights violations on the European continent in decades — violations stemming from the ongoing war of aggression by the Russian Federation against Ukraine. The Commission of Inquiry was mandated to investigate serious violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law, to collect and preserve evidence and to identify those responsible.

For these reasons, Ukraine will vote against draft resolution L.12 and we call upon all Member States to do the same.

I thank you.