Image: Overview of the United Nations Human Rights Council is seen in Geneva, Switzerland June 6, 2017. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration will reengage with the United Nations Human Rights Council, three years after former President Donald Trump withdrew over what his administration called bias against Israel and a lack of reform.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken will announce on Monday that the United States will return to the Geneva-based council as an observer, a senior State Department official said on Sunday.
“We intend to do so knowing that the most effective way to reform and improve the Council is to engage with it in a principled fashion,” the official said.
The plan was first reported by the Associated Press.
Trump, a Republican whose “America First” agenda contributed to his decisions to withdraw from multiple international organizations and agreements, quit the Human Rights Council in 2018 – halfway through its three year term – over what it called chronic bias against Israel and a lack of reform.