The UN General Assembly tonight voted to appoint Austrian Volker Türk as High Commissioner for Human Rights to replace Michelle Bachelet after he formally nominated him for the post by UN Secretary-General António Guterres.

Guterres sent a letter to the General Assembly in which he indicated that “the Secretary General proposes to appoint Volker Türk (Austria) as United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights” to replace Bachelet, the former President of Chile, whose term expired on 31 August last year. The letter added that “The Secretary General is confident that the General Assembly will approve his appointment.”

Turk, 57, has served as UN Assistant Secretary-General for Strategic Coordination in the Guterres Administration since January 2022. He has been with the United Nations for over thirty years and has worked especially with Guterres when the latter was United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.