Bangladesh has been elected as a member of the UN Human Rights Council with 160 votes, the highest number of votes secured by any candidate in the Asia pacific Group.

The elections were held by secret ballot at the General Assembly, which was presided over by the President of the 77th Session of the General Assembly, Csaba Kőrösi.

“This is the 5th time Bangladesh has been elected to this Council since 2009. This is a clear demonstration of international community’s confidence in Bangladesh’s contribution to United Nations’ Human Rights mechanisms and our competence to serve the Council under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina,” said Md Shahriar Alam, the State Minister for Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh, who was present at the General Assembly Hall during the voting. Ambassador Abdul Muhith, the Permanent Representative of Bangladesh accompanied the State Minister during the elections.

Ambassador Muhith thanked the member States for electing Bangladesh to the Human Rights Council with 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 other members elected from the Asia Pacific Group are Maldives (154 votes), Viet Nam (145 votes) and Kyrgyzstan (126 votes).

“This time the election was highly competitive, especially in the Asia Pacific Region. 06 countries from the Asia Pacific regional group participated in the election for 04 seats. Thanks to our constructive and principled presence in the United Nations, especially in the Human Rights Council, we were able to secure the membership with such a high number of votes,” added the State Minister.

After the election, a large number of representatives from the member states congratulated Bangladesh and praised Bangladesh’s remarkable advancements in the field of democracy, human rights, governance, and social-economic inclusion. They also expressed their commendation to the humanitarian leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her bold and timely advocacy for global peace. As a member of the Human Rights Council, Bangladesh will be able to contribute in the norm setting exercises of the United Nations in the field of human rights, especially in the context of emerging global challenges.