Human rights nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) from all regions of the world form the NGO Coalition for an Effective Human Rights Council. We engage in the Human Rights Council elections in order to encourage council elections that result in the selection of member states that “fully cooperate with the Council” and “uphold the highest standards in the promotion and protection of human rights,” as set out in General Assembly resolution 60/251 establishing the council.

We believe that advocacy by NGOs has helped promote the competitive process the General Assembly designed for selecting members of the council based on the contribution they will make to the protection and promotion of human rights. NGO advocacy regarding state candidacies helps promote observance of the membership standards for the council and seeks to prevent the election of unqualified states.

Members of the coalition include:

• African Democracy Forum
• Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA)
• Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)
• The Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies
• Civicus
• Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative
• Corporación Humanas Centro Regional de Derechos Humanos y Justicia de Género
• Democracy Coalition Project
• East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Network (EHAHRD-Net)
• FIDH – Fédération Internationale des ligues des Droits de l'Homme/International Federation for Human Rights
• Human Rights Watch
• West African Human Rights Defenders Network