At UN annual meeting on human rights, UH Hilo poli-sci alumna Tamelia Rang represents her Marshall Islands homeland
Tamelia Rang served as Republic of the Marshall Islands delegate at the United Nations 60th Session of the Human Rights Council held in Geneva.
By Susan Enright/UH Hilo Stories.
A political science alumna from the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo represented her homeland, the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI), at a United Nations meeting on human rights held in Geneva, Switzerland, this fall.
Tamelia Rang, who graduated from UH Hilo in December 2024, now serves as human rights coordinator at the Ministry of Culture and Internal Affairs, RMI. But just before that human rights work commenced, Rang was nominated to be an RMI delegate at the United Nations 60th Session of the Human Rights Council held in Geneva Sept. 8 – Oct. 8, 2025.
The annual meeting ensures that underdeveloped countries and states, in particular those without permanent representation in Geneva, are able to participate and contribute to the work of the UN Human Rights Council.
“Participating in the Council sessions enabled me to better advance and promote human rights issues that are of primary importance for my region and country, such as climate change, the Nuclear Legacy, gender equality, and right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment,” says Rang about her work during the month-long stay in Geneva.
“I’m honored to be representing my country and working on issues I am passionate about at the international level,” she adds.
“I want to thank you”
In learning about her role at the UN meeting, Rang’s former UH Hilo political science professor Su-Mi Lee notes that while she was about to hold a UN climate-change simulation for her class on international law, her former student was participating in a real UN meeting. “I am very proud of her,” says Lee.
Rang says she frequently finds herself drawing on the lessons and values she absorbed in Lee’s classes.
“I wanted to thank you,” says Rang in an email to Lee, “as all of these (lessons) were very instrumental in helping me contribute and participate meaningfully in international spaces.”
Rang is currently on a work trip in Pohnpei.
Story by Susan Enright, public information specialist for the Office of the Chancellor and editor of UH Hilo Stories. She received her bachelor of arts in English and certificate in women’s studies from UH Hilo.
