News
The World Council of Churches (WCC) today thanked the United Nations General Assembly for its work in bringing a reshaped Human Rights Council into being.
In a letter to the General Assembly president, Mr Jan Eliasson, WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia expresses the view that Eliasson's proposal had been "the best in the circumstances". The WCC had been fearful that in "the present environment of tensions and suspicions amongst member states", negotiations over the formation of the new UN Human Rights Council "could have resulted in a setback to the gains made during the last five decades".
"We are glad it has been accepted by a majority of members. It does make important improvements to the human rights architecture of the UN," Kobia noted.
In a statement on UN reform made one month ago by its 9th Assembly taking place in Brazil, the WCC had "urged member states to avoid politicizing the composition of the new Human Rights Council, and give it a status within the UN architecture that reflects the central importance of human rights as one of the three pillars of the UN system".
"With the good will of the states, we are convinced that [the new Council] will contribute effectively to the promotion and defence of human rights," Kobia's letter concludes.
