Belgium elected for a term on the UN Human Rights Council (2023-2025)

Minister of Foreign Affairs Hadja Lahbib welcomes the election of Belgium for a mandate at the United Nations Human Rights Council for the period 2023-2025. This is the third time that our country will sit on this Geneva-based council. The vote of the UN General Assembly took place this afternoon in New York and the excellent result of this vote is a further indication of the international confidence in the expertise and experience of Belgian diplomacy at the UN and elsewhere.

Belgium is strongly committed to the promotion and protection of human rights, which are essential conditions for achieving peace, security and development. Our country is therefore heavily involved in this area during its 2019-2020 term on the UN Security Council. Belgium's foreign policy aims to strengthen the positive interaction between the three interlinked and mutually reinforcing pillars of the UN Charter: peace and security, development and human rights.

Minister Hadja Lahbib: "Every day we see images of people taking to the streets and demanding that their fundamental rights be guaranteed. We hear these people and we support their legitimate demand. This encourages us to work towards an effective and responsive Human Rights Council. More than ever, we must make it clear that human rights are not a favour granted by states. They are an obligation for all, always. To the most vulnerable. To those who are critical. And to those who look different.”

During its three-year term in Geneva, Belgium will continue to promote all human rights, i.e. both civil and political rights and economic, social and cultural rights, in their indivisibility and interdependence. Our country will work on the rule of law and on priority issues such as strengthening the principle of accountability for the most serious crimes. Furthermore, Belgium has been working for many years for the abolition of the death penalty and considers it an important issue to keep on the agenda of the Human Rights Council. We also attach great importance to the promotion of civic space and the protection of human rights defenders, as there can be no realisation of rights without space to defend them. A particular priority for our country, both internally and externally, is also to strengthen gender equality and to fight against discrimination, with a special focus on women and girls. Finally, Belgium traditionally aims at joint action by EU Member States and will continue to encourage and support the implementation of a European human rights diplomacy.