Reporters and photographers during the opening of the 57th session of the Human Rights Council at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, on 9 September, 2024. (Keystone/Salvatore Di Nolfi)

As the Human Rights Council kicks off, here's a snapshot of what you need to know. The 63rd session of the United Nations’ Human Rights Council officially got underway in Geneva today, with no less than 35 resolutions being negotiated over a tight four-and-a-half week schedule, even as it creaks under the weight of its financial pains and political strains. Here's a breakdown of some of the key issues on the table.

👷🏻‍♀️HARD LABOUR. An extraordinary meeting is being held today at the International Labour Organization, with its Governing Body huddling to decide on a request by director general Gilbert Houngbo for $22 million in cutbacks, equivalent to 120 jobs.

The discussions come as the agency faces a massive budget shortfall, led in large part by Washington’s failure to pay over CHF 250 million in arrears.

As the race to head the organisation formally got underway last week, with a last-minute candidate from Peru entering the race, Houngbo – who seeks re-election – appears to have left the door open for the Trump administration to appoint a US official to a deputy director’s seat if Washington pays up.

On Thursday, the American Apparel and Footwear Association, a US trade union representing 3.6 million workers, urged the White House to restore funding to the ILO, warning that a withdrawal from the agency would cede its control to countries not sharing “values and or the ILO’s fundamental principles and rights at work.”

Read more of our coverage of the ILO here.

😷CLIMATE AND DIRTY AIR. The World Meteorological Organization releases its latest report today in the build-up to UNGA and the Cop31 climate summit in November.

Its bulletin on air quality and climate calls for improved atmospheric observations as wildfires and heat waves, generating more dust, as well as continued fossil fuel burning, set back global efforts to improve the air we breathe.

Particles released into the air, higher levels of lingering ozone during heat spells, and aerosols can, meanwhile, affect the climate by sometimes absorbing heat and by influencing cloud formation.

🇺🇳UNGA KICKOFF. The new session of the UN General Assembly begins tomorrow, giving member state representatives two weeks to find their newly assigned locations in the Assembly Hall at the organisation’s headquarters in New York before heads of state arrive for the high-level week beginning on the 22nd.

UNGA81’s theme will be ‘Restoring trust, managing transformation: a United Nations that delivers for all’, an aptly generic name for a year-long session that will see continued reform being carried out, the selection of a new secretary general, and ensuring that donors remain on board.

— Paula Dupraz-Dobias