A/76/PV.71 General Assembly

I invite the attention of the General Assembly to the resignation from the Human Rights Council, as communicated by the Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the United Nations in a letter to the President of the General Assembly dated 7 April 2022, effective the same date. As one vacancy has occurred in the Council, a new member must be elected to fill the unexpired term of the Russian Federation. Before we proceed further, members will recall that the General Assembly concluded its consideration of sub-item (d) of agenda item 116 at its 19th plenary meeting, on 14 October 2021. In order for the Assembly to proceed today with the election of one member of the Council to fill the vacancy, it will be necessary to reopen the consideration of the sub-item. May I take it that it is the wish of the General Assembly to reopen consideration of sub-item (d) of agenda item 116?

The Assembly will now hold a by-election to elect a member of the Human Rights Council. Pursuant to resolution 60/251, of 15 March 2006, and taking into account the fact that the vacancy occurred from among the Eastern European States, the new member should be elected from that region. The new member shall be elected directly and individually, by secret ballot, by the majority of the members of the General Assembly. Accordingly, 97 votes would constitute a majority in the General Assembly, which has a membership of 193 States. The new member thus elected shall be considered to be serving its first term of office beginning on the date of election and expiring on 31 December 2023, and, if re-elected for a subsequent term of office beginning on 1 January 2024, would then begin serving its second consecutive term in the context of paragraph 7 of resolution 60/251, in which the General Assembly decided that “members of the Council … shall not be eligible for immediate re-election after two consecutive terms”. I should like to inform members that currently the following States from among the Eastern European States are represented on the Human Rights Council: Armenia, Lithuania, Montenegro, Poland and Ukraine. The names of those five States should therefore not appear on the ballot. The election will be held in accordance with the relevant rules of procedure of the General Assembly on elections. For this election, rules 92 and 93 of the rules of procedure of the General Assembly shall be applied, and balloting shall continue until one candidate receives the votes cast by the majority of the members of the General Assembly. Accordingly, the election shall be held by secret ballot. Consistent with past practice, if, due to a tie vote, it becomes necessary to determine one candidate that will proceed to the next round of restricted balloting, there will be a special restricted ballot limited to those candidates that have obtained an equal number of votes. May I take it that the General Assembly agrees with the proposed way forward?

For the one vacant seat for Eastern European States, the Secretariat has received a communication from one candidate, the Czech Republic. I have also been informed by the Secretariat that voluntary pledges and commitments, made by Member States in accordance with paragraph 8 of resolution 60/251, were issued as official documents of the seventy-sixth session. Before we begin the voting process, I would like to remind members that pursuant to rule 88 of the rules of procedure of the General Assembly, no representative shall interrupt the voting except on a point of order on the actual conduct of the voting. We shall now begin the voting process. Members are requested to remain seated until all ballot papers have been collected. The ballot papers will now be distributed. I request representatives to use only those ballot papers. In addition, ballot papers will only be given to the representative seated directly behind the country’s nameplate. The voting has thus begun. In accordance with resolution 71/323 of 8 September 2017, the name of the State that has been communicated to the Secretariat at least 48 hours prior to the election today has been printed on the ballot paper for the one regional group concerned. Also, an additional blank line corresponding to the number of vacant seats to be filled for the regional group has been provided on the ballot paper for inscribing another State, as necessary. Representatives are requested to check the boxes next to the name of the candidate printed on the ballot paper or write the name of another eligible State on the blank line. If the box next to the name printed on the ballot paper is checked, the name of that State does not need to be repeated on the blank line. There should be no more than one checked box or handwritten name for the vacant seat to be filled, as indicated on the ballot paper. A ballot will be declared invalid if it contains votes for more than one eligible Member State from the Group of Eastern European States. If a ballot paper contains only a vote for a Member State that does not belong to the Group of Eastern European States or for a Member State from that region that is a current member of the Council, the ballot paper will be declared invalid, since the present election is a by-election for the one vacant seat from the Eastern European Group. Finally, if a ballot paper contains any notation other than a vote in favour of an eligible Member State, those notations will be disregarded.

In the interests of time, the General Assembly will now proceed to consider the other items announced in the Journal of the United Nations while the ballots are being counted. The General Assembly has thus concluded this stage of its consideration of sub-item (d) of agenda item 116.

The Assembly will now take action on draft decision A/76/L.53, entitled “International meeting entitled ‘Stockholm+50: a healthy planet for the prosperity of all  — our responsibility, our opportunity’”. May I take it that it is the wish of the General Assembly to adopt draft decision A/76/L.53?

The General Assembly has thus concluded this stage of its consideration of agenda item 20.

The positions of delegations regarding the recommendation of the Fourth Committee have been made clear in the Committee and are reflected in the relevant official records. Therefore, if there is no proposal under rule 66 of the rules of procedure, I shall take it that the General Assembly decides not to discuss the report of the Committee that is before the Assembly today.

Statements will therefore be limited to explanations of vote. I would like to remind Member States that in paragraph 7 of decision 34/401, the General Assembly agreed that “When the same draft resolution is considered in a Main Committee and in plenary meeting, a delegation should, as far as possible, explain its vote only once, i.e., either in the Committee or in plenary meeting unless that delegation’s vote in plenary meeting is different from its vote in the Committee.” I would further like to remind delegations that, also in accordance with General Assembly decision 34/401, explanations of vote are limited to 10 minutes and should be made by delegations from their seats. Before we begin to take action on the recommendation contained in the report of the Special Political and Decolonization Committee (Fourth Committee), I should like to advise representatives that we are going to proceed to take a decision in the same manner as was done in the Committee, unless notified otherwise in advance. The General Assembly has before it a draft resolution recommended by the Special Political and Decolonization Committee (Fourth Committee) in paragraph 6 of its report. The Assembly will now take a decision on the draft resolution. The Committee adopted it without a vote. May I take it that the Assembly wishes to do the same?

May I take it that it is the wish of the Assembly to conclude its consideration of agenda item 56?

Members will recall that at its 61st and 62nd plenary meetings, on 15 and 18 March 2022, respectively, the General Assembly appointed Costa Rica, Croatia, Kuwait, Mauritius, Pakistan, Senegal, Sweden and the United States of America as members of the Board of the 10-Year Framework of Programmes on Sustainable Consumption and Production Patterns for a term beginning on the date of appointment and ending on 14 March 2024. Members will also recall that one vacancy each from the Eastern European States and the Latin American and Caribbean States remains to be filled for a term of office beginning on the date of appointment and ending on 14 March 2024. In this regard, the Secretariat has received the nomination of Brazil. May I take it that the General Assembly wishes to appoint Brazil as a member of the Board of the 10-Year Framework of Programmes on Sustainable Consumption and Production Patterns for a term beginning on 10 May 2022 and ending on 14 March 2024?

Members are reminded that one vacancy from the Eastern European States remains to be filled for a term of office beginning on the date of appointment and ending on 14 March 2024. The General Assembly has thus concluded this stage of its consideration of sub-item (h) of agenda item 117.

I now wish to suspend the meeting while the ballots for the election of a member of the Human Rights Council are still being counted.

The result of the voting is as follows: Group C — Eastern European States (1 seat) Number of ballot papers: 180 Number of invalid ballots: 0 Number of valid ballots: 180 Abstentions: 23 Number of members voting: 157 Required absolute majority: 97 Number of votes obtained: Czech Republic 157

I congratulate the Czech Republic on having been elected a member of the Human Rights Council. The Assembly has thus concluded its consideration of sub-item (d) of agenda item 116.