Bangladesh has bagged a “historic win” in the election for the membership of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) for the term 2023-25, securing 160 votes out of 189 that were cast in Tuesday’s election.
Talking to UNB, Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen said it was proven again that the global leaderships have confidence in Sheikh Hasina's government and the human rights track record of Bangladesh.
"The Bangladesh government is always at the forefront of democracy, human rights and justice," he said.
This would be the fifth term for Bangladesh as a member of the 47-member UNHRC. It secured one of the four seats up for grabs for countries from the Asia Pacific Group, receiving the highest votes out of all the candidates in the region.
The other three countries elected from the region were the Maldives (154 votes), Vietnam (145 votes) and Kyrgyzstan (126 votes). South Korea (123 votes) and Afghanistan (12 votes) missed out, while Bahrain withdrew their candidature late last month.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the win is significant, as it was “the most competitive international election” Bangladesh participated in since 2018.
State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam led the Bangladesh delegation in the UN General Assembly during the election on Tuesday.
“This is the 5th time Bangladesh has been elected to this Council since 2009. This is a clear demonstration of the international community’s confidence in Bangladesh’s contribution to the United Nations Human Rights mechanisms and our competence to serve the Council under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina,” he said.
Ambassador Abdul Muhith, the Permanent Representative of Bangladesh, accompanied the state minister.
Ambassador Muhith thanked the member States for electing Bangladesh to the Human Rights Council with an overwhelming number of votes and expressed his commitment to continue working with all in strengthening the leadership of the UN in promoting and protecting human rights globally.
The result is a clear manifestation of the recognition by the international community of Bangladesh's continued endeavour and commitment to the promotion and protection of human rights in the national as well as the international arena, Bangladesh says.
“It also nullifies the ongoing smear campaign with falsified and fabricated information, by some politically motivated vested corners at home and abroad, aimed at negatively portraying the human rights situation of Bangladesh,” according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Given that in electing the members of the UNHRC, the General Assembly is expected to take into account the candidate States' contribution to the promotion and protection of human rights, as well as their voluntary pledges and commitments in this regard, MoFA may well feel vindicated.
In the previous UNHRC elections, Bangladesh won in 2006, 2009, 2014 and 2018.
Bangladesh, as a responsible and responsive Member State of the United Nations and an elected UNHRC member for the next three years, will remain committed to making all efforts to ensure the promotion and protection of human rights nationally and globally, MoFA said.
The Human Rights Council is an inter-governmental body within the United Nations system made up of 47 States at one time, which is responsible for the promotion and protection of all human rights around the globe.
The Council starts its yearly membership cycle on January 1.
