Maldives has won the election for membership of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) at the elections held Tuesday at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York.

At the election, 17 countries competed for 14 vacant seats. The Maldives competed in the Group of Asia-Pacific States, for one of the 4 vacant seats.

Bangladesh secured the most votes with 160 in the Asia Pacific group, followed by Maldives with 154 votes and Vietnam with 145 votes. Kyrgyzstan beat South Korea with 126 votes. South Korea and Afghanistan lost in the election, securing 12 votes and 1 vote, respectively. Bahrain withdrew from the election prior to the vote.

This is the third time the Maldives got elected to the UN's Human Rights Council. The Maldives held UNHRC seats for two consecutive terms, from 2011 to 2016.

The UNHCR was established in 2006 with a mission to promote and protect human rights around the world. It is in charge of investigating allegations of human rights violations in UN member states. While all decisions made in the UNHCR are nonbinding, it still has a political impact regarding human rights affairs on the international stage.