The 81st General Assembly of the United Nations elected 15 countries, including Brazil, as members of the UN Human Rights Council on Tuesday to replace members who will end their term at the end of this year.
The UN Human Rights Council members are: Burundi, Ghana, Nigeria, Zambia in Africa; Japan, Jordan, Kuwait, Nepal in Asia-Pacific; Moldova, Ukraine in Eastern Europe; Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Uruguay in Latin America and the Caribbean; and Germany and Ireland in Western Europe and other regions. Among them, Burundi, Ghana, Japan, Kuwait, Brazil, and the Dominican Republic have been re-elected. The tenure of the 15 newly elected members will begin on January 1, 2027, for a three-year term.
This year, none of the 15 seats had competitors, and 15 countries were successfully elected.
The United Nations Human Rights Council was established in 2006 and is based in Geneva, Switzerland. The Human Rights Council has a total of 47 seats, including 13 in Africa and Asia-Pacific, 8 in Latin America and the Caribbean, 6 in Eastern Europe, and 7 in Western Europe and other regions. Each year, about one-third of the Human Rights Council members are re-elected by the United Nations. Members can be re-elected for a three-year term. After two consecutive terms, new terms must be sought with a one-year interval.
Members of the United Nations Human Rights Council are elected by Secret ballot by the General Assembly of the United Nations. A candidate country must obtain more than half of the vote in the member countries to be elected.