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Summary: Fourteen new States were elected to the UN's main human rights monitoring body this week. We take a look at some of the big one's children's rights records. Fourteen new States were elected to serve on the United Nation’s main human rights monitoring body this week. The elections to the Geneva-based Human Rights Council (HRC) - whose role it is to monitor and protect fundamental human rights and freedoms around the world - saw Algeria, China, Cuba, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, France, the Maldives, Mexico, Morocco, Namibia, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, the United Kingdom and Vietnam all win a seat. Elections to UN bodies often provide an opportunity to call on newly elected States to improve their respective human rights records. This recently occurred with Chad‘s election to the UN Security Council, as the State features on the UN's list of the worst States regarding children's rights violations in armed conflict. Advocates also argue that States which are known to commit gross human rights violations and fail to respect the UN system must not be allowed to serve on the HRC. Prior to the elections, over 40 organisations sent a joint letter to the General Assembly expressing this concern. The letter, put forward by the International Service for Human Rights, made specific reference to Russia, China and Saudi Arabia and said "the ability of the Council in protecting human rights is undermined if its members do not take the effective measures to address violations of human rights for which they are responsible." Based on a similar premise of accountability and suitability is CRIN’s Transparency Campaign, which among other things asks if the people appointed to the top children's rights positions are indeed the best people for the job. Now that China, France, Russia, Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom occupy seats at the HRC (and four of these are also on the UN Security Council), we hope that they view their election as a steppingstone to improving their own human rights records. This week’s CRINmail - the week in children’s rights - was a special edition featuring the HRC elections and looks at some of the new Members' track records in working with the UN. It also includes an analysis of the state of children’s rights in China, France, Russia, Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom based on the Children’s Rights Wiki, which comprise a list of issues raised by more than one international human rights monitoring body. The issues looked at include juvenile justice, legalised violence against children (ie corporal punishment), discrimination against certain types of children, and restrictions on civil and political rights. Click here to read the special edition. Further Information: CRIN’s transparency campaign - monitoring elections for the top child rights jobs Click here to subscribe to CRINmails.