Ambassador Václav Bálek, President of the 17th cycle

Václav Bálek, President of the 17th cycle Ambassador Václav Bálek has been the Permanent Representative of the Czech Republic to the United Nations Office and other international organizations in Geneva since August 2021.

He was elected President of the Human Rights Council for 2023 on 9 December 2022. Watch the historic moment.

Read his full bio

Statements

Statement by Václav Bálek, President of the Human Rights Council, to the Third Committee of the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly

01 November 2023

Statement by Václav Bálek, President of the Human Rights Council, to the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly - 23rd plenary meeting

31 October 2023

Statement by Václav Bálek, President of the Human Rights Council, at the opening of the second session of the Permanent Forum of People of African Descent

30 May 2023

Statement by Václav Bálek, President of the Human Rights Council, on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of World Press Freedom Day

02 May 2023

Statement by Václav Bálek, President of the Human Rights Council, on the occasion of the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade

27 March 2023

Statement by Václav Bálek, President of the Human Rights Council, on the occasion of World Down Syndrome Day

21 March 2023

Statement by Václav Bálek, President of the Human Rights Council, to the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions Annual Conference 2023

16 March 2023

Statement by Václav Bálek, President of the Human Rights Council, Opening of the twenty-ninth session of the Human Rights Council Advisory Committee

20 February 2023

Statement by Václav Bálek, President of the Human Rights Council, Seminar Series on the contribution of development to the enjoyment of all human rights (Regional meeting for Asia and the Pacific)

13 February 2023

Statement by Václav Bálek, President of the Human Rights Council, to the Meeting of Ministers’ Deputies of the Council of Europe

09 February 2023

Statement by H.E. Mr. Václav Bálek, President of the Human Rights Council, at the OHCHR workshop on promoting and protecting economic, social and cultural rights within the context of addressing inequalities in the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic

06 February 2023

Statement by Václav Bálek, President of the Human Rights Council, to the Special Meeting of the Economic and Social Council on “Social and economic measures to prevent genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity,”

24 January 2023

Statement by Ambassador Václav Bálek (Czech Republic), President-elect of the Human Rights Council for 2023, at the organizational session of the Human Rights Council, Geneva, 9 December 2022

09 December 2022

Statement by Václav Bálek, President of the Human Rights Council, to the Human Rights Council’s fifth intersessional meeting for dialogue and cooperation on Human Rights and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

19 January 2022