Human Rights, Budget, and Reform

The Human Rights Council, established by the General Assembly in 2006, replaced the earlier Commission on Human Rights, which had been widely criticized for including states with poor human rights records among its members and for allegedly politicized decision-making. The Council has forty-seven member states elected by the General Assembly and is based in Geneva; its main innovation is the Universal Periodic Review, a mechanism through which the human rights record of every UN member state is examined on a recurring cycle. The United States has withdrawn from and rejoined the Council more than once, leaving in 2018 under the first Trump administration, rejoining under President Biden in 2021, and withdrawing again in 2025.