On 12 May 2009, the General Assembly elected 18 countries to serve on the Human Rights Council (HRC), the principle UN intergovernmental body for human rights, that is mandated to promote the effective coordination and mainstreaming of human rights within the UN system, to encourage universal respect for the protection of all human rights and to address and recommend on human rights violations.
This year, Belgium, Hungary, Kyrgyzstan, Norway and the United States are joining for the first time. Bangladesh, Cameroon, China, Cuba, Djibouti, Jordan, Mauritius, Mexico, Nigeria, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Senegal and Uruguay were re-elected.