Kathmandu: Nepal has been re-elected as a member of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in the elections held at UN Headquarters in New York on October 13.
Currently serving as a member of the Council since January 2018, Nepal has been re-elected with 150 votes and will serve a consecutive three-year term of 2021-2023. In addition to Nepal, three countries from the Asia Pacific region namely China, Pakistan, and Uzbekistan were among the 15 Member States elected by a secret ballot in a plenary meeting of the 75th session of the UN General Assembly.
According to the Permanent Mission of Nepal to the United Nations, other newly elected countries were Côte d’Ivoire, Gabon, Malawi and Senegal from Africa; Russian Federation and Ukraine from Eastern Europe; Bolivia, Cuba, and Mexico from Latin America; and France and the United Kingdom from Western Europe. All will serve a three-year term beginning from January 2021.
Upon conclusion of the elections, Ambassador/Permanent Representative of Nepal to the UN Amrit Bahadur Rai said, “Nepal’s re-election is an international community’s acknowledgment of our progressive journey on political and human rights fronts. It is also a recognition of Nepal’s efforts in protection and promotion of human rights both at home and across the globe, including through our peacekeepers.”
He also added that Nepal would continue to contribute to the work of the Council in promoting an apolitical and impartial approach to human rights through a unique perspective of a land-locked and least developed country striving for socio-economic transformation. He emphasized that Nepal would continue to strive, with a sense of a great deal of responsibility, to promote the ideals of justice, peace, and progress for all, placing the human rights needs of the most vulnerable groups of people at the centre.
Established by the UN General Assembly in 2006 as the principal United Nations entity dealing with human rights, the Human Rights Council consists of 47 elected Member States.