Anjali Sharma
GG News Bureau
UNITED NATIONS, 11th Jan. According to a press release issued on Wednesday in New York, a career diplomat from Morocco has been elected as the president of the UN Human Rights Council for 2024.
The release said that Ambassador Omar Zniber was chosen on Wednesday by secret ballot – a procedure that only takes place when the Council’s 47 members cannot reach consensus on who will guide proceedings of the UN’s premier human rights forum, which is based in Geneva.
Mr. Zniber beats the South African candidate, Ambassador Mxolisi Nkosi.
Both men were nominated by the Group of African States which holds the Council presidency in 2024.
Mr. Zniber said “It is an honor for both the Kingdom of Morocco and for me personally to have been elected as head of this august Council for its 18th cycle a position belonging to Africa.”
The next regular session of the Council begins on 26 February, when top rights experts will report on human rights situations of concern around the world that require the attention of the international community.
Mr. Zniber has been serving as the Permanent Representative of Morocco to the UN Office at Geneva since 2018.
He served as Morocco’s Ambassador to Germany, Slovenia, Slovakia and Austria, and Chief of the UN Division in his country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation.
