Georgia was elected as a member of the United Nations human rights council for the second time on Tuesday, the country’s foreign ministry said and added the position would provide “additional opportunities” to be involved in the international decision-making process for human rights protection.
Held as part of the 77th session of the UN general assembly in New York, the vote saw Georgia and 11 other countries elected as members of the council for 2023-2025. The terms will start from January 1.
Honored that #Georgia has been elected with 178 votes to @UN_HRC for the term 2023-2025. Grateful to UN Member States for their support. Look forward to working with all stakeholders to reaffirm our commitment & contribute to global efforts to protect & promote human rights
— Ilia Darchiashvili (@iliadarch) October 12, 2022
After the ballots were cast, Georgia secured the second term with 178 votes along with Germany and Sudan, with the general assembly president Csaba Kőrösi naming Algeria, Bangladesh, Belgium, Chile, Costa Rica, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Maldives, Morocco, Romania, South Africa and Vietnam to serve for three years.
South Korea and Venezuela failed to be re-elected to the top human rights body, which is based at the UN office in Geneva.
Members of the council are elected from regional groups according to the geographical principle, with the body made up of 47 states responsible for the promotion and protection of human rights around the globe.
Georgia was initially elected as a member of the UN’s intergovernmental body in 2015, for the term covering the years 2016-2018.