Sierra Leone has been elected as one of the 18 member countries of the UN Human Rights Council HRC for a period of three years which will commence on January 1st 2013.

Sierra Leone, Ethiopia, Kenya, Ivory Coast and Gabon are the African nations elected to the council through a secret ballot during the elections held at UN Headquarters in New York.

Argentina, Brazil, Estonia, Germany, Ireland, Japan, Kazakhstan, Montenegro, Pakistan, Republic of Korea, United Arab Emirates, United States and Venezuela completed the list of 18 members in the council.

The members of the Council will serve for a period of three years and are not eligible for immediate re-election after serving two consecutive terms.

The HRC is an inter-governmental body within the UN system responsible for strengthening the promotion and protection of human rights around the globe and for addressing situations of human rights violations and make recommendations on them.

All of its members are elected by the world body's General Assembly and it has the ability to discuss all thematic human rights issues and situations that require its attention throughout the year.

The entire Council's membership is based on equitable geographical distribution and seats are distributed as follows: 13 seats for African states, 13 seats for Asian states, 8 seats for Latin American and Caribbean states, 7 seats for Western European and other states, and 6 seats for Eastern European states.