GOVERNMENT MINISTERS are lobbying their counterparts from other countries to secure an Irish place on the United Nations Human Rights Council, according to Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Eamon Gilmore.
The electorate is composed of the 193 member-states of the UN General Assembly who will vote in the autumn, probably in October.
The diplomatic lobbying effort is being led by Ireland’s Permanent Representative to the UN in New York, Anne Anderson, and her counterpart in Geneva, Gerry Corr.
Ireland is a candidate for the first time and will be competing with Germany, Greece, Sweden and the US for three seats in the Western European and Others Group of the UN.
The term is for three calendar years, running from January 2013 to the end of 2015.
“The Human Rights Council is the primary international forum for advancing respect for human rights and promoting compliance with the key international instruments,” Mr Gilmore will tell a human rights forum in Dublin Castle this morning. It is being attended mainly by Irish non-governmental organisations concerned with development and human rights issues.
“We have a strong domestic record and have also clearly demonstrated our commitment to the strengthening of human rights at the global level,” Mr Gilmore will say.
“No country has a perfect performance in the area. We recognise that there is still much work to be done in Ireland by Government and civil society in order to achieve our common objectives, but there is nevertheless a solid basis of achievement and of common endeavour.”
