October 12, 2022
DHAKA – Bangladesh has been elected a member of the UN Human Rights Council for the period of 2022-2025, with the highest vote.
At the voting in the UN General Assembly in New York on Tuesday, Bangladesh bagged 160 votes, Maldives 154, Vietnam 145 and Kyrgyzstan 126, an official of Bangladesh Permanent Mission to Geneva confirmed this to The Daily Star.
Korea with 123 votes and Afghanistan with 12 votes, failed to be a member of the Council.
This year, 17 countries of different regions are running for 14 seats in the 47-member Council
From Asia and the Pacific States, six countries — Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Maldives, Korea and Vietnam — are contesting for four seats.
The Council members serve three-year terms and are not eligible for immediate re-election after serving two consecutive terms. Bangladesh last served on the Council during the 2019-21 term.
According to the foreign ministry officials concerned, the Human Rights Council holds three sessions every year and more than 100 resolutions are adopted every year on various national, regional and global issues.
“You can surely negotiate the interests of your country even if you are not an elected member of the Council, but when you have a voting power, you can have more time as well as an active say on the issues. You can impact words in the resolutions,” a foreign ministry official told this correspondent.
He said oftentimes, the developed countries emphasize on political rights while the developing countries on socio-economic and cultural rights in the Council.