Croatia was elected for the first time at today’s General Assembly elections to the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) for a three-year period, 2017-2019. This represents a significant success for Croatia and is a result of its internationally recognized engagement in promoting the protection of human rights – “for all people, in all circumstances and without discrimination”.
Croatia will now be more active globally regarding human rights, including the drafting of new standards for their promotion and protection, and raising awareness in countries where human rights violations and their non-punishment are a threat to citizens.
Croatia will contribute to further strengthening of and better cooperation among the various UNHRC mechanisms and other UN bodies so as to build an effective and timely response to today’s challenges regarding the protection and development of human rights.
Also, Croatia through its foreign activities will continue to promote national priorities such as the protection of children and disabled persons’ rights, and especially the rights of women in their most vulnerable contexts – discrimination and violence. Croatia’s priorities will also focus on fighting all forms of discrimination and hate crimes and an effective protection of all victims of conflict by protecting every person’s dignity and right to life. The UNHRC membership will be an opportunity for Croatia to share its good practice in human rights promotion and protection.
The Human Rights Council is an intergovernmental body within the UN system established in 2006 and tasked with the promotion and protection of all human rights around the globe. It is made up of 47 member states.