Amina Bouayach calls for enhanced cooperation between human rights institutions at UN council

Ya Biladi

04-07-2025

The President of Morocco's National Human Rights Council (CNDH), Amina Bouayach, has called for «effective coordination and sustained cooperation» between national human rights institutions (NHRIs) and reporting and monitoring mechanisms.
Speaking at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva on Friday, July 4, Bouayach advocated for a complementary approach, «more essential than ever to ensure the robustness, continuity, and legitimacy of systems for protecting fundamental rights».
In her capacity as both CNDH President and head of the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI), Bouayach emphasized the need for «clear political will and a shared commitment to building renewed bridges between local dynamics and universal mechanisms».
Such reflection, she noted, is «all the more necessary as it helps identify shared challenges, better understand obstacles hindering our mandates, and mobilize the resources needed for NHRIs to fully carry out their role».
Guaranteeing human rights, she added, «is not merely a matter of transposing legal texts». «Above all, it is about defending human dignity in all its dimensions—preventing violations and responding, with both rigor and humanity, to the concerns of citizens, institutions, and non-state actors».
In a context marked by «the erosion of multilateralism, budgetary constraints, geopolitical tensions», and growing skepticism around the very universality of human rights, Bouayach argued that cooperation must be anchored in «a coherent action framework». The goal, she said, is to «prevent violations, strengthen protection, and effectively promote human rights».
Citing a GANHRI study, she outlined four types of national mechanisms for implementation, reporting and follow-up (NMIRFs): ad hoc, ministerial, interministerial, and institutional. She stressed the need for «structured dialogue between NHRIs and national mechanisms with clear mandates, to ensure synergy, efficiency, and shared governance».
«When NHRIs enjoy real independence, in line with the Paris Principles, they are able to fully exercise their threefold mission: prevention, protection, and promotion of human rights», she concluded, reaffirming that «human rights are not optional—they are the indispensable foundation of any just and resilient society».