By LIBBY CATHEY, EMILY SHAPIRO and TIA HUMPHRIES, ABC News
(WASHINGTON) — This is Day 20 of the administration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.
Here is how events are unfolding. All times Eastern.
Feb 08, 8:01 am
US to begin ‘reengagement’ with UN Human Rights Council
The U.S. will “reengage” with the United Nations Human Rights Council, according to a new statement from a spokesperson for the U.S. mission to the United Nations, nearly three years after President Donald Trump withdrew the U.S. from organization in 2018.
“We recognize the UN Human Rights Council has its flaws, but we also believe it can help promote fundamental freedoms around the world,” spokesperson Olivia Alair Dalton wrote in a statement.
The statement makes it clear the U.S. will be “at the table as an observer.”
“Through our leadership on the UN Security Council and by reengaging with the Human Rights Council, the United States will continue to fight for global peace and security, and to promote human rights and fundamental freedoms for all,” the statement continued.
The move is a first step to rejoin the group, which was a campaign promise Biden made in December 2019.
“As president, I will take decisive steps to demonstrate that America is prepared to lead again — not just with the example of our power, but the power of our example … We will rejoin the UN Human Rights Council and work to ensure that body truly lives up to its values,” Biden wrote in a December 2019 statement on Human Rights Day.
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