Human Rights Council Elections 2026: discussions of candidate States’ visions for membership

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The event intends to give candidates an opportunity to present their visions for Council membership and to respond to questions from a range of stakeholders on how they propose to realise the pledges and commitments they may have made in seeking election.

State representatives, civil society, national human rights institutions (NHRIs) and other key stakeholders are invited to participate actively in the event and pose questions to candidate States.

So far, those are the candidate States running for election [please be aware that the list of candidates might evolve and will be updated as new information comes in]:

• African States: Ghana, Nigeria and Zambia (3 candidates so far for 4 seats: closed list)
• Asia-Pacific States: Japan, Jordan, Kuwait, Nepal and Timor-Leste (5 candidates for 4 seats: competitive slate)
• Latin American and Caribbean States: Brazil, Dominican Republic and Uruguay (3 candidates for 3 seats: closed list)
• Western European and Other States: Germany and Ireland (2 candidates for 2 seats: closed list)
• Eastern European States: Moldova and Ukraine (2 candidates for 2 seats: closed list)

To help assess candidates, ISHR will publish individual and regional 'score cards'. The scorecards offer a quick ‘at-a-glance’ objective comparison of the human rights record of each candidate through criteria such as focusing on their cooperation with human rights bodies such as the Council, their support for civil society, their engagement with UN Treaty Bodies and Special Procedures, among others.

Have a question? 

• Submit your questions to candidates via this form
• Follow us on social media:  @ISHRglobal #HRCelections2026

Register here

This event is kindly sponsored by the Republic of Chile and the Republic of Estonia.