Kombos to press for seat at UN Human Rights Council election

Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos travelled to New York ahead of the election of members of the United Nations Human Rights Council, the ministry announced on Monday.

Cyprus is a candidate to sit on the council between 2025 and 2027, and will be competing for one of the five seats which will be contested for the Asia-Pacific region when the election takes place on Wednesday.

The ministry said Kombos will “have an intensive round of contacts” to “present and promote our country’s candidacy”, and stressed that this election is the first time Cyprus has nominated itself to sit on such a body at the UN.

The UN Human Rights Council is made up of 47 members at any given time, with states elected for staggered three-year terms.

Countries are divided into five groups: Africa, Asia-Pacific, Eastern Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Western Europe and “other” states.

A total of 13 seats are allocated to the Asia-Pacific region, with the five up for election set to be vacated by India, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates.

Other high-profile incumbent UN Human Rights Council members include China, Japan, Brazil, France and the United States.