The United Nations General Assembly has elected Spain as a member of the Human Rights Council for the period 2025-2027 in a vote held last week in New York.
The Council's main objective is the protection and promotion of human rights worldwide. Its objective is to strengthen respect for human rights in the international arena, without which sustainable peace, security, and development are not possible.
With his election, Spain gives renewed impetus to its firm commitment to multilateralism and to the United Nations as a way to ensure coexistence, mutual trust and peace. This is a new milestone in Spain's new foreign policy; a policy with its own identity and voice based on a commitment to the values with which Spanish society identifies, such as peace, democracy and human rights, as well as the defense of its interests and institutions.
As an elected member of the Council, Spain assumes the responsibility to contribute to improving the effectiveness of the international protection of human rights. Spain will play an active role in the search for common ground in consultations and negotiations.
Likewise, from the Council, Spain will promote specific lines of action in which our country has proven experience, such as the defense of real and effective equal opportunities between men and women; the fight against all types of discrimination, particularly on grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity; the protection of the rights of persons with disabilities; the promotion of economic, social and cultural rights; or the protection of human rights defenders as positive agents of change.