Topic- Important International institutions, agencies and fora- their structure, mandate.
3) Discuss the structure and the functioning of UNHRC. Also, discuss the criticism faced by the organization.(250 words)
Why this question
In the recent elections, India got 188 votes in the Asia-Pacific category, the highest number of votes among all candidates. UNHRC is an important international organization and it it is essential to discuss about the working of the organization and the criticism faced by it.
Directive word
Discuss- this is an all-encompassing directive which mandates us to write in detail about the key demand of the question. we also have to discuss about the related and important aspects of the question in order to bring out a complete picture of the issue in hand.
Key demand of the question.
The question wants us to write in detail about the structure and functioning of UNHRC and also write in detail about the criticism faced by it.
Structure of the answer
Introduction- write a few introductory lines about the UNHRC- The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) is a United Nations body whose mission is to promote and protect human rights around the world. The UNHRC has 47 members elected for staggered three-year terms on a regional group basis. Mention India’s recent election feat.
Body-
- Discuss the structure and the functioning of UNHRC. E.g The members of the General Assembly elect the members who occupy the UNHRC’s 47 seats. The term of each seat is three years, and no member may occupy a seat for more than two consecutive terms. The seats are distributed among the
- UN’s regional groups as follows: 13 for Africa, 13 for Asia, six for Eastern Europe, eight for Latin America and the Caribbean (GRULAC), and seven for the Western European and Others Group (WEOG); The UNHRC holds regular sessions three times a year, in March, June, and September; The UNHRC can decide at any time to hold a special session to address human rights violations and emergencies, at the request of one-third of the member states. To date there have been 28 special sessions etc.
- Discuss the criticism faced by the organization. E.g The UNHRC has been accused of anti-Israel bias, a particular criticism being its focus on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict at each session as Agenda Item 7; Several independent human rights groups say that UNHRC is being controlled by some Middle East and African nations, supported by China, Russia and Cuba, which protect each other from criticism etc.
Conclusion– sum up your discussion in a few lines and form a fair and a balanced conclusion on the above issue.
