The United Nations General Assembly has elected the Netherlands to the Human Rights Council for 2015-2017. According to Minister of Foreign Affairs Bert Koenders, who applauds the Dutch membership, “it underlines the importance the Netherlands attaches to human rights throughout the world and offers the opportunity to actively engage in, for example, freedom of expression, protection of women’s rights, rights of sexual minorities, human rights defenders and the right to a fair trial. The Dutch will also try to ensure that more attention is paid to human rights in conflict areas.”