By Adedapo Adesanya
Nigeria has retained its seat to serve for another four years in the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) from 2023 to 2026.
Nigeria and Mauritius were reelected to occupy the seat while the two remaining vacant positions for Africa in CESCR were filled by new members.
CESCR is the body of 18 independent experts that monitors the implementation of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights by its States Parties.
Egypt and Morocco were the member states elected to occupy the remaining seats of the four seats for the African Group in 2021 and Egypt currently chairs the committee as a member of the Africa Group.
The remaining two were contested on Wednesday at UN headquarters by Nigeria, Cameroun, Malawi and Mauritius.
Nigeria won at the first ballot scoring 39 out of the 54 ballots of Member States.
Malawi lost out and Mauritius and Cameroun competed for the remaining one seat because they were both even on votes.
Mauritius clinched the second seat knocking out Cameroun. So, Nigeria and Mauritius retained their two seats.
The Nigerian candidate who won the seat, Ambassador Peters Emuze, speaking in New York after the election said that the committee was saddled with the responsibility to ensure that parties abide by treaties on economic, social and cultural rights.
“Nigeria is a State Party to the covenant rights. Our duty is to ensure that State Parties adhere to the covenant rights by ensuring best practices. This is why periodically State Party reports are reviewed.
“However, a number of questions emanating from the provisions of articles of the covenant are advanced to state parties in the process of its review.
“During the review, a state is expected to provide answers to a number of questions or issues raised during the dialogue.
“At the end, an evaluation process is done and issues raised on those aspects of the covenant rights the state party is not fulfilling,’’ he said.
According to him, it is imperative to know that the aims and objectives of CESCR are not to benefit a particular nation but humanity in general.
Mr Emuze said the work of the UN rights committee would benefit humanity as a whole and the extent to which they enjoy economic, social and cultural rights in order to live a life of dignity.
The Nigerian diplomat, however, thanked the Permanent Representative of Nigeria to the UN, Mr Tijjani Muhammad-Bande for the role he played in his re-election.
Mr Muhammad-Bande had on March 31 hosted a reception, seeking the support of Member States for Nigeria’s candidate for the seat.
Mr Emuze, a retired career diplomat for 35 years, rose to become a Special Grade Director at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where he served as Head of the UN department in the ministry.
He had served in Nigeria’s diplomatic missions in Zambia, the Netherlands, Italy, Hong Kong and the Permanent Mission of Nigeria to the UN in Geneva and Switzerland.
He was President of the UN Conference on Disarmament, and he is currently an Independent Expert of CESCR and a member of the Committee drafting its General Comment on Sustainable Development and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
Modupe Gbadeyanka