On Tuesday, the United Nations General Assembly conducted an election to appoint 15 new member countries to serve on the Human Rights Council, of which four of the new members are African nations. These four African members are Burundi, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, and Malawi.
Assembly President Dennis Francis officially announced the new members after the casting and tallying of ballots. The new members are Albania, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burundi, China, Cote d’Ivoire, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, France, Ghana, Indonesia, Japan, Kuwait, Malawi, and the Netherlands.
The assumption of their three-year term role will commence on the 1st of January 2024. Remarkably, China, Cote d’Ivoire, Cuba, France, and Malawi secured re-election for their second terms.
The Human Rights Council is a prominent UN body responsible for the global promotion and protection of fundamental human rights. The Human Rights Council established in 2006 consists of 47 member states selected through a secret ballot by the majority of the General Assembly members.
The council tries to ensure a fair distribution of seats across geographical regions by allocating its seats to regional groups of states: Africa, Asia-Pacific, Eastern Europe, Latin American and Caribbean, Western Europe, and others.
Among the African nations that voted for the council, Malawi received the highest number of votes with 182 votes, followed closely by Cote d’Ivoire with 181 votes, Ghana with 179, and Burundi with 168.
This also marks the first time the Dominican Republic has been elected to the Human Rights Council.
The new members will join the existing Human Rights Council members on the 1st of January 2024 which include Algeria, Argentina, Bangladesh, Belgium, Benin, Cameroon, Chile, Costa Rica, Eritrea, Finland, Gambia, Georgia, Germany, Honduras, India, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, and Luxembourg.
Furthermore, Malaysia, Maldives, Montenegro, Morocco, Paraguay, Qatar, Romania, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, the United Arab Emirates, the United States of America, and Vietnam are part of the council.