A louder voice for human rights: The Nordic–Baltic group at the UN Human Rights Council

The Nordic–Baltic Eight (NB8) group has enhanced its cooperation in the United Nations (UN) since the 2010s. The lively cooperation is surprising, as the group represents states with varied institutional and regional group memberships and different UN profiles. In this article, I study how and why the NB8 has increased cooperation in the UN Human Rights Council (HRC). I argue that the group aims to be a louder voice for human rights through collective action. The article draws on the literature on small states and group cooperation to position and explain the NB8 group in the HRC context. The document and interview data unveil how the group cooperates at different diplomatic levels and prepares collective statements. I also identify several reasons for enhanced cooperation, illustrating agential and structural considerations. This research contributes to the literature on the Nordic–Baltic states in the UN and improves our understanding of informal cooperation among sub-regional groups.