Nigeria Wins UN Human Rights Council Seat With 172 Votes

Nigeria has been elected to the United Nations Human Rights Council for a three-year time period starting January 1, 2027.

The nation secured 172 votes throughout Tuesday’s election carried out by the 193-member UN General Assembly in New York. Nigeria was amongst 15 international locations elected to serve on the Geneva-based Council from 2027 to 2029.

The UN General Assembly President’s spokesperson Melissa Summers confirmed the election on the UN headquarters in New York.

Other African international locations elected had been Burundi, Ghana and Zambia, finishing the 4 seats allotted to the African regional group.

According to the official election outcomes reported by Jordan’s nationwide information company, Zambia secured 177 votes, Ghana 173 and Burundi 160. Nigeria’s election adopted its endorsement by the African Group, which offered 4 candidates for the 4 accessible regional seats.

The General Assembly elected the brand new members via secret ballots, in accordance with its established procedures.

The Human Rights Council includes 47 international locations liable for selling and defending human rights worldwide. Its membership is distributed geographically, with Africa holding 13 seats, Asia-Pacific 13, Eastern Europe six, Latin America and the Caribbean eight, and Western Europe and others seven.

Council members serve three-year phrases and can’t instantly search one other time period after serving two consecutive phrases. The Council examines human rights conditions, addresses alleged violations and makes suggestions aimed toward strengthening worldwide human rights safety.

It additionally conducts the Universal Periodic Review, via which the human rights information of all UN Member States are examined. Under General Assembly Resolution 60/251, Council members are anticipated to uphold excessive requirements in selling and defending human rights.

The election offers Nigeria with a chance to take part straight in worldwide deliberations on human rights safety, accountability and institutional cooperation.

Nigeria will serve alongside different African international locations, together with Benin, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, South Africa and Angola. The different newly elected international locations embrace Brazil, Dominican Republic, Uruguay, Japan, Jordan, Kuwait, Nepal, Moldova, Ukraine, Germany and Ireland.

The new members will assume workplace on January 1, 2027, changing international locations whose present phrases expire on December 31, 2026.