The UN human rights chief on Monday warned that a system of global protections built in the decades after World War Two has never before been under so much strain, calling for an effort to reinforce it or risk suffering the atrocities of the past.

"The global consensus on human rights is crumbling under the weight of authoritarians, strongmen and oligarchs," United Nations High Commissioner Volker Turk told a high-level meeting of the Human Rights Council in Geneva, Reuters reported.

"We need an all-out effort by everyone, to make sure that human rights and the rule of law remain foundational to communities, societies and international relations. Otherwise, the picture is very dangerous," he said.