GENEVA (9 January 2024) – The Human Rights Council is set to elect its President for 2024 at a meeting to be held at 10:00 CET on Wednesday 10 January 2024 in Room XX, Palais des Nations, Geneva. The result of the election will be announced immediately at the meeting, which will be webcast live. 

The Group of African States, which holds the Council presidency in 2024, has nominated the following candidates for the position of President of the Council: 

• The Permanent Representative of Morocco to the United Nations Office at Geneva, Ambassador Omar Zniber 
• The Permanent Representative of South Africa to the United Nations Office at Geneva, Ambassador Mxolisi Nkosi 

The election will be conducted by secret ballot in accordance with the rules of procedure of the United Nations General Assembly, which apply to the Human Rights Council. The candidate who receives the largest number of votes and a majority of the members present and voting is declared elected as President of the Human Rights Council. After the election, the winner will be given the opportunity to speak, and the meeting will be closed. 

A secret ballot occurs when the Council does not reach consensus on who will occupy the year-long term to steward proceedings of the United Nations’ premier human rights body. The most recent President elected by secret ballot was Nazhat Shameem Khan, former Permanent Representative of Fiji to the United Nations Office at Geneva, who served as President of the Human Rights Council in 2021. 

Additionally, the Council is due to hold a second meeting in the afternoon of 10 January (15:00-18:00) in Room XX to prepare for the upcoming 45th session of the Council’s Universal Periodic Review, which takes place from 22 January to 2 February 2024. 

The 10 January meetings are the first in the Human Rights Council’s 18th cycle (the 18th year since the establishment of the Council in 2006). Membership of the Council for 2024 is as follows: Albania, Algeria, Argentina, Bangladesh, Belgium, Benin, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chile, China, Costa Rica, Côte d’Ivoire, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Eritrea, Finland, France, Gambia, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Morocco, Montenegro, Netherlands (Kingdom of the), Paraguay, Qatar, Romania, South Africa, Sudan, United Arab Emirates, United States of America, and Viet Nam. 

The morning meeting webcast link is: https://webtv.un.org/en/asset/k1v/k1vl15ztyw  

Human Rights Council Media and Communications Team 
Pascal Sim, Media Officer, simp@un.org: David Díaz Martín, Public Information Officer, david.diazmartin@un.org: Matthew Brown, Public Information Officer, matthew.brown@un.org 

Our website and social media platforms: https://linktr.ee/unhumanrightscouncil