Foreign Minister Roberto Álvarez announced Tuesday the Dominican Republic’s historic entry into the United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC) for the 2024-2026 term, after winning its candidacy in the General Assembly elections, by winning 137 votes out of 186 valid ballots.
Minister Álvarez affirmed that obtaining a seat on this Council “constitutes a milestone for the country and reaffirms the Dominican Government’s commitment to the promotion, protection, defense and fulfillment of human rights at the global level, as contemplated by the national foreign policy in its axis number three”.
He added that this position is a recognition of the international community to the Dominican foreign policy and also strengthens the country’s leadership, since the Human Rights Council is one of the main bodies of the United Nations System, which is composed of 47 States.
Foreign Minister Roberto Álvarez pondered that this triumph of the Dominican Republic responds to the new international policy guidelines applied by the government of President Luis Abinader. He also highlighted the hard work done by officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Dominican Foreign Service; the Vice Minister of Multilateral Foreign Policy, Rubén Silié; and the permanent missions to the United Nations headed by Ambassadors José Blanco, in New York, and Virgilio Alcántara, in Geneva, Switzerland, as well as the Directorates of International Organizations and Human Rights of MIREX.
The Minister took advantage of his presence at the voting to thank the countries that supported the Dominican candidacy and also congratulated the other elected nations.
For the Group of Latin American and Caribbean Countries (Grulac), in addition to the Dominican Republic, Cuba and Brazil were elected to the HRC to fill the three vacancies available in the region for this period.
The main function of this Council, which is based at the United Nations offices in Geneva, Switzerland, is to strengthen the promotion and protection of human rights and to address situations in which fundamental rights are violated, on the basis of which relevant recommendations are made to countries to restore, repair and/or establish appropriate sanctions in cases that merit them.
Source: presidencia.gov.do
