United Nations : The U.N. General Assembly has approved veteran Austrian diplomat Volker Türk to be the global body’s human rights chief.
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres nominated Volker Türk, his top policy chief, late Wednesday and the 193-member assembly quickly approved the appointment by consensus with a bang of the gavel by its acting president, which was followed by a burst of applause.
Türk will replace Michelle Bachelet of Chile as high commissioner for human rights, based in Geneva.
Türk, who holds a doctorate in international law from the University of Vienna, worked for the U.N. high commissioner for refugees around the world, including in Malaysia, Kosovo, Bosnia, Congo and Kuwait, before serving in key positions at UNHCR headquarters in Geneva.
From 2015 to 2019 he was assistant high commissioner for protection where he focused on developing the Global Compact on Refugees.
From 2019 until January 2022, Türk served as assistant secretary-general for strategic coordination in Guterres’ office. The U.N. chief then appointed him as undersecretary-general for policy in his executive office.
This year, Türk has been focusing on the follow-up to Guterres’ September 2021 report called “Our Common Agenda” outlining his vision for the “breakthrough scenario” to a greener and safer world.
He was also tasked with conducting U.N. system-wide coordination including on the secretary-general’s “Call to Action for Human Rights.”
