By Manal El Warraky
Morocco’s representative, Ms. Amina Bouayach, President of the National Human Rights Council, was unanimously elected on Tuesday, March 11, 2025, by national human rights institutions as President of the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions. This election took place during the Alliance’s General Assembly, held on the sidelines of the 58th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva.
Mr. Vladen Stefanov, Head of the National Institutions and Regional Human Rights Mechanisms Section at the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, confirmed that Ms. Bouayach’s nomination was endorsed by representatives of national human rights institutions from all geographical groups, after she was officially nominated by the Network of African National Human Rights Institutions, which officially endorsed Ms. Bouayach’s nomination on behalf of Africa during its General Assembly.
Through the National Human Rights Council of the Kingdom of Morocco, Africa reclaims the presidency of the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI) ten years after the election of another representative from the continent.
Following the vote, Ms. Bouayach stated that she was honored by the trust placed in her by her brothers and sisters in Africa and her colleagues around the world. She affirmed the “shared and unwavering commitment” of African national human rights institutions, from the far north to the far south, to the protection and promotion of human rights, highlighting the role of these institutions, which work every day in complex situations to serve this noble cause.
Ms. Bouayach noted that her election comes at a time when the GANHRI, whose mission is to interact and advocate within the United Nations, must address the current difficult situation of multilateralism, as well as the funding challenges affecting national human rights institutions.
It is worth noting that Ms. Amina Bouayach succeeds the Qatari Maryam Al-Attiyah, Chairperson of the National Human Rights Committee of Qatar, as head of the alliance for a three-year term.
