AZERBAIJAN ELECTED LONG-TERM MEMBER OF UN NEW HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL
The 47-member Council will meet for the first time on 19 June in Geneva. The Council members represent five regions of world. Elected to the Council were 13 African nations, 13 Asian states, six from Eastern Europe, eight from the Latin America and the Caribbean and seven form the Western Europe.
The contention for seats was most heated among the Eastern European group of candidates, where it took three rounds of balloting to select the six members. Thus, they were Azerbaijan, the Czech Republic, Poland, Romania, Russia, and Ukraine. The elected Council members are authorized for one-, two-, or three-year terms. Among the Eastern Europe Council members, only Azerbaijan was awarded with three-years term membership.
The threshold for winning seats was high. Candidates had to receive a minimum of 96 votes. Azerbaijan garnered 103 votes. Among other candidates were Lithuania, Slovenia, and Hungary.
According to the resolution of UN General Assembly on establishment of the Council, during selection the human rights development and obligations of the country should be taken into account.
Commenting Azerbaijan’s win, the country’s permanent representatives at UN Yashar Aliyev said: “ To be elected as a member to the UN newly established Council is great honor. It is an indication of Azerbaijan’s rising image on international arena. And the longest-term membership is also makes us responsible. We should increase our achievements in this field in the years ahead”.
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