The following statement was released by the Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs

On October 17 in New York at the elections held in the UN General Assembly Armenia was elected to the Human Rights Council for the term of 2020-2022.

Armenia was among three countries who presented their candidacies for the two vacant seats allocated to the Group of Eastern European Countries (along with Poland and Moldova).

Following the secret ballot Armenia was elected in the first round of voting by receiving 144 votes (Poland - 124 votes, Moldova - 103 votes). The required majority for being elected was 97 votes.

Armenia’s election to the Human Rights Council, by a significant majority of votes, is a strong testimony to the recognition by the international community of its democratic transformation and substantial progress in terms of protection and promotion of human rights and fundamental freedoms.

Armenia was elected to the Human Rights Council for the first time. In course of its membership in the Human Rights Council Armenia will focus on delivering its pledges and commitments, in particular by addressing the issues of prevention of genocide and mass atrocities, countering hate crimes targeting ethnic and religious groups, protecting the rights of women and youth, building peaceful and inclusive societies.

Information: The Human Rights Council was established in 2016 as an inter-governmental subsidiary body of the General Assembly, made up of 47 UN member states. It is responsible for strengthening the promotion and protection of human rights around the world, addressing human rights violations and making recommendations on them. Its headquarters is located in Geneva.