{"id":34783,"date":"2017-10-13T06:00:02","date_gmt":"2017-10-12T19:00:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?p=34783"},"modified":"2017-10-12T16:42:16","modified_gmt":"2017-10-12T05:42:16","slug":"elections-at-the-un-australias-approach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/elections-at-the-un-australias-approach\/","title":{"rendered":"Elections at the UN: Australia\u2019s approach"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-34787 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/UN-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"426\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/UN-1024x682.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/UN-205x136.jpg 205w, https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/UN-768x511.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/UN-332x221.jpg 332w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/figure>\n<p>Australia is poised to be elected to the United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC) when the General Assembly meets on 16 October. Until recently, Australia, Spain and France were locked in a tight contest for two of the three available seats. However, in a demonstration of how hard these races can be, France <a href=\"http:\/\/www.diplomatie.gouv.fr\/en\/french-foreign-policy\/human-rights\/events\/article\/human-rights-france-s-support-for-the-spanish-candidate-to-the-human-rights\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">announced<\/a> in July 2017 that it would postpone its candidacy to the next term (2021\u20132023). It\u2019s now almost a fait accompli that Australia and Spain will be elected by the UN membership. It\u2019s a significant role\u2014we\u2019ll have the opportunity to make a valuable contribution to the work of the pre-eminent intergovernmental body overseeing the protection and promotion of global human rights. In doing so, we can promote our own interests and build influence as a global player.<\/p>\n<p>Our HRC candidacy presents a timely opportunity to consider the value of serving on UN intergovernmental bodies and Australia\u2019s rationale for and approach in regularly putting itself forward as a candidate. My <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/report\/elections-un-australias-approach\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">paper<\/a>, released today by ASPI, does just that. It also offers the following recommendations for the Australian government to strengthen Australia\u2019s engagement in UN electoral processes:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">maintain Australia\u2019s extensive electoral representation as part of a strategic plan for engagement at the UN<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">engage in greater public outreach to the Australian community, to strengthen the implementation of the government\u2019s<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/dfat.gov.au\/people-to-people\/public-diplomacy\/pages\/public-diplomacy-strategy.aspx\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">public diplomacy strategy<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and to increase awareness about the importance of Australia\u2019s UN engagement, including its pursuit of UN candidacies<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">engage more strategically with Australians working in the UN and related organisations to identify potential candidates for UN elections<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">explore possibilities for strengthening Australia\u2019s relationship with non-traditional partners. That will facilitate Australia\u2019s future campaigns for UN bodies and is consistent with Australia acting as a sustainable global player. <\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The paper draws on my experience as elections officer for the Australian government at its Permanent Mission to the UN in New York. I represented Australia in the numerous elections held at UN headquarters, including those that involved an Australian candidacy. I had the honour of promoting the successful candidacies of two Australians: Professor Ron McCallum for election to the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and Professor Megan Davis for election to the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. Both made major contributions as experts to those UN bodies. My paper suggests that the impressive work of Australians at the UN should be better promoted domestically, not just to advertise that opportunities exist for qualified Australians to serve in the UN, but to show that Australians\u2019 expertise is recognised internationally.<\/p>\n<p>My main job was working on Australia\u2019s successful candidacy to the Security Council for the 2013\u20132014 term. Australia was seeking one of the two available non-permanent seats, in an intense contest with Luxembourg and Finland. Our competitors had a head start of seven and six years respectively before Australia entered the race in 2008. The vote, of all 193 member states of the UN General Assembly, was on 18 October 2012. I recall approaching the GA Hall with the Australian ambassador, Gary Quinlan. As the Australian delegation entered the iconic building, some friendly faces immediately approached us\u2014some longstanding allies, and some more recent but equally genuine friends born out of Australia\u2019s extensive outreach in its campaign. There were others who were interested observers of the intense contest. And some who were clearly hopeful that our European competitors would be successful.<\/p>\n<p>What I most remember is the importance of the day for Australia. The vote marked a culmination of years of intensive global effort by many Australians and our candidacy represented a desire to contribute to the rules-based global order and to shape outcomes from the pre-eminent body responsible for maintaining international peace and security. Election would also be meaningful for Australia\u2019s international standing and influence. A defeat would have been crushing. But the inevitability of contests in Security Council elections meant that Australia had to put itself on the line if it wished to serve.<\/p>\n<p>Of course it\u2019s not just about the campaign\u2014the contribution afterwards is critical. Throughout the UN\u2019s 72-year history, Australia has been an influential and engaged actor. Due to our geographic location, size and approach to diplomacy, we\u2019ve often been able to navigate fractious issues. That was demonstrated during our Security Council term, when Australia took the lead with Luxembourg and Jordan on initiatives to address the Syrian humanitarian crisis\u2014something rarely done by a non-permanent member of the council. Australia also led the council\u2019s response to the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, in which 298 people were killed, including 38 Australians. Australia\u2019s seat at the council table gave us leverage to negotiate directly with council members, especially Russia. Australia obtained the resolution supporting an impartial international investigation and demanding accountability for the perpetrators. It was an important global response.<\/p>\n<p>Australia\u2019s election to the HRC will be historic for Australian foreign policy. Australia will no doubt look to build on its UN reputation to make a strong contribution to the work of the HRC. Our interest in serving can also be viewed as an effort to maintain our momentum at the UN and sustain our influence.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Australia is poised to be elected to the United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC) when the General Assembly meets on 16 October. Until recently, Australia, Spain and France were locked in a tight contest for &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":641,"featured_media":34787,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[17,601,249,92],"class_list":["post-34783","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-australia","tag-foreign-affairs","tag-human-rights","tag-united-nations"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v19.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Elections at the UN: Australia\u2019s approach | The Strategist<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/elections-at-the-un-australias-approach\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Elections at the UN: Australia\u2019s approach | The Strategist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Australia is poised to be elected to the United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC) when the General Assembly meets on 16 October. Until recently, Australia, Spain and France were locked in a tight contest for ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/elections-at-the-un-australias-approach\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Strategist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ASPI.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-10-12T19:00:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-10-12T05:42:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/UN-1024x682.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"682\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Sally Richardson\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ASPI_org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ASPI_org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Sally Richardson\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/\",\"name\":\"The Strategist\",\"description\":\"ASPI&#039;s analysis and commentary site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/elections-at-the-un-australias-approach\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/UN.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/UN.jpg\",\"width\":3600,\"height\":2396,\"caption\":\"26th plenary meeting of the General Assembly 67th session: Election of five non-permanent members of the Security Council [item 109 (a)]\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/elections-at-the-un-australias-approach\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/elections-at-the-un-australias-approach\/\",\"name\":\"Elections at the UN: Australia\u2019s approach | The Strategist\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/elections-at-the-un-australias-approach\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2017-10-12T19:00:02+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-10-12T05:42:16+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/81a3aa952c1f472cadfcb4bcd8414bd8\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/elections-at-the-un-australias-approach\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/elections-at-the-un-australias-approach\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/elections-at-the-un-australias-approach\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Elections at the UN: Australia\u2019s approach\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/81a3aa952c1f472cadfcb4bcd8414bd8\",\"name\":\"Sally Richardson\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b64a3149948fee98d60ca5330f691643?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b64a3149948fee98d60ca5330f691643?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Sally Richardson\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/author\/sally-weston\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Elections at the UN: Australia\u2019s approach | The Strategist","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/elections-at-the-un-australias-approach\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Elections at the UN: Australia\u2019s approach | The Strategist","og_description":"Australia is poised to be elected to the United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC) when the General Assembly meets on 16 October. 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