UNITED NATIONS - The UN General Assembly on Wednesday elected 18 members to the 47-member for the 2025-2027 term.
The 18 countries -- Benin, Bolivia, Colombia, Cyprus, Czechia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Gambia, Iceland, Kenya, Marshall Islands, Mexico, North Macedonia, Qatar, Republic of Korea, Spain, Switzerland and Thailand -- were elected by a secret ballot, and they will serve three-year terms beginning on Jan 1, 2025, replacing members whose terms of office are set to expire on Dec. 31, 2024.
All the outgoing members -- Argentina, Benin, Cameroon, Eritrea, Finland, Gambia, Honduras, India, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Montenegro, Paraguay, Qatar, Somalia, United Arab Emirates and the United States -- were eligible for immediate re-election except those members who have served two consecutive terms, including Argentina, Cameroon, Eritrea, India and Somalia.
Albania, Algeria, Bangladesh, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burundi, Chile, China, Costa Rica, Cote d'Ivoire, Cuba, Dominican Republic, France, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Indonesia, Japan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Malawi, Maldives, Morocco, Netherlands, Romania, South Africa, Sudan and Vietnam will continue to be members of the council.
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The Geneva-based Human Rights Council is an inter-governmental body within the United Nations system responsible for promoting and protecting human rights around the world. About a third of its 47 members are replaced every year so that the council members serve staggered three-year terms for the sake of continuity.
Seats of the Human Rights Council are allocated on the basis of regional groups for the sake of geographical representation: 13 each for Africa and the Asia-Pacific; eight for Latin America and the Caribbean; seven for Western Europe and other states; six for Eastern Europe. 、
Head of UN humanitarian agency
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday appointed Tom Fletcher of the United Kingdom as the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
Fletcher succeeds Martin Griffiths of the United Kingdom, who served as the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator between July 2021 and June 2024.
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Joyce Msuya, Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator, will continue to serve as Acting Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator until Fletcher assumes his position, according to a statement issued by the United Nations.
Fletcher, who is currently the Principal of Hertford College, Oxford, and Vice Chair of Oxford University's Conference of Colleges, has strong experience of leading and transforming organizations and bringing an understanding of diplomacy at the highest levels, the statement said.
He previously served as Global Strategy Director, Global Business Coalition for Education (2015-2019), and led work for former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown on refugee education. He served as the United Kingdom's Ambassador to Lebanon from 2011 to 2015.
