His Royal Highness Prince Zeid, Jordan’s outgoing permanent representative to the United Nations (UN), has been nominated as UN high commissioner for human rights.
On Friday, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon proposed that Prince Zeid replace Navi Pillay of South Africa as the United Nations human rights chief based in Geneva, the world body’s press office said, quoted by Reuters.
The prince has resigned his post as Jordan’s UN envoy and was replaced by Ambassador Dina Kawar last week. He was still in his job Friday and attended a UN Security Council session on Yugoslavia and Rwanda criminal tribunals, according to the Jordan News Agency, Petra.
The new nomination will now go to the 193-nation UN General Assembly for approval. Several US diplomats were quoted by Reuters as saying there was unlikely to be any resistance to the appointment given that Prince Zeid is generally popular and has established a solid reputation as a human rights advocate.
Prince Zeid, who holds a PhD in history, graduated from Cambridge University and Johns Hopkins University. He has previously served as Jordan’s ambassador to the United States and Mexico.
He was also a political affairs officer in UNPROFOR, the UN peacekeeping mission in the former Yugoslavia during the Balkan conflict.
Minister of State for Media Affairs and Communications Mohammad Momani said Jordan welcomes the nomination of Prince Zeid to such a position, noting that this nomination is a result of the respect the Kingdom has commanded from the international community, Petra reported.
