Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to promote the "competitive HRC membership elections" for the United Nations Human Rights Council they called for in the joint concluding statement of the 35th Session of the UNHRC in June.

Her Majesty's Government is committed to the defence of human rights worldwide and strongly supports the work of the Human Rights Council (HRC). Recent steps to encourage competitive elections to the HRC include our participation in public pledging events by HRC membership candidates in Geneva and New York. We are considering with like-minded member states a number of ideas relating to the membership and functioning of the HRC, following on from the Joint Statement at its 35th Session.