By Alfred Chauwa
Sweet news: Malawi has been reelected as a member of the United Nations Human Rights Council with the highest votes among African countries.
Malawi has been elected along other 3 African states for the term 2024 – 2026 during the elections held on Tuesday at the UN General Assembly in New York.
Malawi scoped 182 votes to lead the African vote ahead of
Cote dVoire 181, Ghana 179, Burundi 168 and Nigeria 3. This means only Nigeria failed to make it into the Council.
With most of the African countries rallying behind Malawi, this means a lot on how the continent and the world at large perceive Malawi on Democracy and Human Rights.
While in Asia and the Pacific, Indonesia secured 186 votes, followed by Kuwait (183), Japan (175), and China (154).
In Eastern Europe, Bulgaria received 160 votes, followed by Albania (123), and Russia (83). Russia was seeking re-election to the Human Rights Council after it resigned from the body on 7 April 2022.
Latin America and the Caribbean saw Cuba secure 146 votes, followed by Brazil (144), Dominican Republic (137) and Peru (108). This is the first time Dominican Republic is elected to the Human Rights Council.
In Western Europe and others, the Netherlands received 169 votes, and France 153.
The new members will join Algeria, Argentina, Bangladesh, Belgium, Benin, Cameroon, Chile, Costa Rica, Eritrea, Finland, Gambia, Georgia, Germany, Honduras, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Maldives, Montenegro, Morocco, Paraguay, Qatar, Romania, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, United Arab Emirates, United States of America, and Viet Nam.
