A plenary session elects members of the UN Human Rights Council for the 2026-2028 term. Photo: Thanh Tuan/VNA

Under Council rules, presidents are appointed to serve for one year by the body’s 47 Member States, based in Geneva. The Ambassador will now lead proceedings at the UN forum after his nomination as the sole candidate of the Asia-Pacific group, whose turn it was to propose a leader for the Council. Other members of the regional bloc include China, Japan and South Korea.

Mr. Suryodipuro takes over from last year’s President, Jurg Lauber from Switzerland. The Indonesian ambassador will now wield the gavel at the Council’s three scheduled sessions beginning in late February, June and September. He’ll also be overseeing reviews of the human rights record of the Council’s Members – a procedure known as the Universal Periodic Review.

At the same meeting, delegates also agreed to the appointment of Ecuadorian candidate, Ambassador Marcelo Vázquez Bermúdez, as Vice President of the Council for 2026. Despite being the only candidate from the group of Latin American and Caribbean nations, Ambassador Bermúdez's candidacy did not receive support from Bolivia and Cuba, two countries that had declared their withdrawal from the election process.