Fiji to lead UN Human Rights Council

Nazhat Shameem Khan, Fiji’s ambassador to Geneva, has been finally appointed as the president of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC).

Key Points

• Nazhat Shameem Khan will lead the council as the president for the year 2021.
• She was selected through a secret ballot after no consensus was achieved.
• Usually, UNHRC rotates the presidency between the regions and the president is elected through consensus. This was the 1st time in the 15-year history of the council started the year without a president and finally conducted voting.
• Nazhat Shameem Khan was a candidate for the presidency along with Uzbekistan’s Ambassador Ulugbek Lapasov and Bahrain’s ambassador Yusuf Abdulkarim Bucheeri.
• Ulugbek got 4 votes and Bucheeri got 14 votes. Nazhat Shameem Khan received 29 out of 47 votes and was chosen as the president.

UNHRC

It is a UN body that protects and promotes human rights across the world. UNHRC was established in the year 2006 and is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. The body has 47 members. Last year in October, Pakistan again became a member of UNHRC. Now, it will be the member till 2023. India is also a member of the council till 2021 at present.