Keeping with the convention of annually electing members of the Human Rights Council on geographical representation and term limits grounds, the General Assembly today voted by secret ballot to fill 15 soon-to-be vacant seats of the 47-member intergovernmental body.
Established in 2006 by the UN’s largest organ, the Council, charged with strengthening, promoting and protecting human rights around the world, renews a third of its membership every year across the Organization’s five regional groupings on an equitable basis. This follows the practice where each member of the Council is elected for a three-year term which is immediately renewable only once. Thus, each State can only serve a maximum of two consecutive terms.
In a single round of voting, the Assembly elected Brazil, Burundi, Dominican Republic, Germany, Ghana, Ireland, Japan, Jordan, Kuwait, Nepal, Nigeria, Republic of Moldova Ukraine, Uruguay and Zambia to the Council for the next three years, with their terms commencing on 1 January 2027.
They will replace 15 members whose terms expire on 31 December. Of these, five States — China, Côte d'Ivoire, Cuba, France and Malawi — were ineligible for immediate re-election, having served out two terms, back-to-back, as stipulated by General Assembly resolution 60/251 adopted on 15 March 2006.
Prior to voting, Assembly President Khalilur Rahman (Bangladesh) announced that the vacant seats had been distributed among the five regional groups.
With four positions earmarked for the African States, Burundi, Ghana, Nigeria and Zambia, had been relayed for the four vacant seats within the region. Meanwhile, Japan, Jordan, Kuwait and Nepal represented the four vacant seats for the Asia-Pacific States.
The Republic of Moldova and Ukraine were nominated for the two seats for the Eastern European States, he noted, while Brazil, Dominican Republic and Uruguay had been conveyed to represent Latin American and Caribbean States’ two vacant seats. Finally, Germany and Ireland were standing in for the two vacant positions reserved for Western European and other States.
Voting Results of Each Nominee
For the African States, with 181 valid votes and no abstentions, Zambia obtained 177 votes; Ghana, 173; Nigeria, 172; and Burundi 160 votes.
The Asia-Pacific countries had 180 votes and 1 abstention, with Kuwait and Nepal each receiving 173 votes, while Jordan obtained 171 votes, and Japan 166.
181 valid votes and 12 abstentions amongst the Eastern European States translated to 168 votes for the Republic of Moldova, and 162 votes for Ukraine.
As for the Latin American and Caribbean States, which had 181 votes and 7 abstentions, Brazil obtained 170 votes; Dominican Republic, 170; Uruguay, 165.
Ireland and Germany received 165 and 163 votes, respectively, for the Western Europe and other European States which had 181 total votes and 15 abstentions.
In other business, the Assembly continued its debate on the revitalization of the work of the General Assembly and implementation of UN resolutions.