Germany to head HRC in 2015, pledges reforms

This morning, the Human Rights Council elected its President and four Vice-Presidents for the year 2015. What was also interesting was that we have geared up for new reform process for the Council, ahead of its 10 year anniversary in 2016.
Germany was chosen from the WEOG group to be the Council’s President for 2015, while Albania, Botswana, Kazakhstan and Paraguay were chosen as Vice-Presidents, representing the other regions.
The Council has no scheduled reform up ahead, other than the GA to consider the status of the Council (subsidiary to the GA or on an equal level as a principal body) “at an appropriate moment and at a time no sooner than ten years and no later than fifteen years.” Yet, today’s organization meeting may have kicked off a new round of reforms for the HRC, which still has not been able to full implement its mandate and efficiently assist  human rights victims around the world.
The outgoing President, Ambassador Baudelaire Ndong Ella, outlined a long list of suggested reforms, including “the agenda of the Council, the number of resolutions, the number of panels, the functioning of certain groups related to activities of the Council, such as the advisory group […] and the Group on Situations, the role of special procedures, the participation of NGOs in the work of the Council, and the Treaty bodies.” The President said that this process should be completed by 2016  and concluded his remarks by saying “we should always bear in mind the reasons the led to the disappearance of the Human Rights Commission.”
Ambassador Joachim Rucker of Germany, the HRC’s President-elect, went a step further and proposed a first round of informal discussions in Berlin, on May 21-23, on the role of the Council and how to further improve its efficiency and effectiveness.
The reform process for the HRC in 2016 has been officially inaugurated. UN Watch will of course be present throughout this process and advocate for what is right.