TIRANA, October 10 – The UN General Assembly on Tuesday elected 15 new countries to serve on the Human Rights Council among which is Albania, UN News said on Tuesday.
The news was also announced by the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Igli Hasani who called it another great achievement of Albania’s foreign policy and diplomacy.
“Another demonstration of confidence from UN member states for Albania’s role in international affairs, this time fully dedicated to the protection and promotion of human rights everywhere and for everyone,” said Hasani on social networks.
This is the second time that Albania is elected as member of the 47- member Human Rights Council.
In its report UN News said that after the ballots were cast and counted in the UN General Assembly, its President Dennis Francis announced Albania, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burundi, China, Côte d’Ivoire, Cuba, Dominican Republic, France, Ghana, Indonesia, Japan, Kuwait, Malawi, and the Netherlands were elected to serve for three years, beginning 1 January 2024.
The Human Rights Council, the UN’s premier rights body, is tasked with the responsibility to uphold and advance fundamental freedoms globally. It was created in 2006 and consists of 47 member States, elected via secret ballot by the majority of General Assembly members.
In order to ensure equitable geographical distribution, its seats are distributed among regional groups of States as follows, from Africa (13); Asia-Pacific (13); Eastern European (6); Latin American and Caribbean (8); and Western European and others (7).
In Eastern Europe, Bulgaria received 160 votes, followed by Albania (123), and Russia (83). Russia was seeking re-election to the Human Rights Council after it resigned from the body on 7 April 2022, but it failed.
The new members will join Algeria, Argentina, Bangladesh, Belgium, Benin, Cameroon, Chile, Costa Rica, Eritrea, Finland, Gambia, Georgia, Germany, Honduras, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Maldives, Montenegro, Morocco, Paraguay, Qatar, Romania, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, United Arab Emirates, United States of America, and Viet Nam on 1 January 2024. /argumentum.al
