African States at the UN Human Rights Council in 2019

The report analyzes the 2019 HRC voting records of 13 African member states, finding a significant lack of unity within the African Group. While South Africa, Rwanda, and Burkina Faso emerged as the strongest supporters of international human rights, Egypt, Eritrea, and Cameroon were the most opposed. The analysis highlights a recurring contradiction where many African states strongly support resolutions condemning Israel while opposing or abstaining from resolutions targeting other rights-abusing regimes. Overall, the report suggests a general unwillingness among African states to defend international human rights, with a noted decline in support since 2017.

• African states exhibited a complete lack of unity in their voting on civil and political rights in 2019; for all 26 votes in this category, at least one state voted yes, one voted no, and one abstained.
• South Africa, Rwanda, and Burkina Faso were identified as the strongest supporters of international human rights within the African Group during 2019, while Cameroon, Egypt, and Eritrea were the most opposed.
• There is a stark discrepancy between African states' support for resolutions concerning Israel and their support for other country-specific human rights resolutions; in 2019, African states voted in favor of Israel resolutions 72% of the time, but only 16% of the time for other pro-human rights country-specific resolutions.
• The African Group's overall support for international human rights has declined since 2017, with the percentage of individual votes supporting human rights dropping from 33% in 2017 to 14% in 2018, remaining similarly low in 2019.
• African states generally avoid sponsoring or co-sponsoring critical country-specific resolutions, except for those regarding Israel, often preferring 'technical assistance and capacity-building' resolutions that require the consent of the target state.
• The report finds that a state's domestic human rights record is an unreliable predictor of its HRC performance, citing Rwanda as an 'unfree' state that consistently supports human rights at the HRC.

APA

JORDAAN, E. (2021). African States at the UN Human Rights Council in 2019. South African Institute of International Affairs. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Special-Report-AGDP-Jordaan.pdf

Chicago

JORDAAN, EDUARD. African States at the UN Human Rights Council in 2019. South African Institute of International Affairs, 2021. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Special-Report-AGDP-Jordaan.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=JORDAAN |first1=EDUARD |title=African States at the UN Human Rights Council in 2019 |publisher=South African Institute of International Affairs |date=December 2021 |url=https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Special-Report-AGDP-Jordaan.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{jordaan2021african, author = {JORDAAN, EDUARD}, title = {{African States at the UN Human Rights Council in 2019}}, institution = {South African Institute of International Affairs}, year = {2021}, month = dec, url = {https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Special-Report-AGDP-Jordaan.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }