Amna Bouayach: National Institutions Are Key Partners in Upholding Human Rights and Promoting International Pluralism
Amna Bouayach, the President of the National Human Rights Council, highlighted the vital role of national human rights institutions in protecting and cementing basic rights and freedoms during her address in New York. As the President of the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions, Bouayach emphasized, during her participation in the annual meeting assessing the partnership between the Global Alliance, the United Nations Development Programme, and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, that this initiative has aimed to enhance the capacities of national institutions since its launch in 2011 to fulfill their central roles in defending human rights.
Bouayach pointed out that the meeting takes place in a complex international context marked by increasing conflicts, a decline in democracy, and weakened pluralism, alongside a crippling funding crisis within the UN system that hinders the participation of national institutions and civil society in international mechanisms, particularly in New York. She asserted that addressing these challenges necessitates coordinated responses based on respect for international law and fostering dialogue and cooperation among various stakeholders.
According to Bouayach, the tripartite partnership represents a unique model of cooperation that strengthens the capacities of national institutions and innovates new tools in areas such as digitization and the environment, while enabling these institutions to engage effectively in international decision-making. She underscored the importance of the “UN80” initiative as a critical opportunity to reposition human rights at the heart of multilateral work on a global scale.
She highlighted the high-level meetings that took place during the week in New York with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Economic and Social Council, and several member states, aimed at advocating for the establishment of a strategic space for national human rights institutions within efforts to reform the UN system. She stressed that integrating national institutions into this dynamic is a prerequisite for any genuine reform in the human rights field.
Bouayach outlined three priorities to empower the role of national human rights institutions: supporting existing institutions, encouraging the establishment of new ones, and promoting collaboration in areas like digitization, climate, and civil space, in addition to enhancing their participation in multilateral mechanisms. She also called for an ambitious strategy to mobilize financial resources, emphasizing that inadequate funding poses a barrier to achieving the objectives of the Global Alliance and its regional networks.
The meeting saw the participation of notable UN figures, including the United Nations Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights Ilze Brands Kehris, the Deputy Director of the Crisis Bureau at the UN Development Programme Turhan Saleh, along with the heads of regional networks of national human rights institutions from Africa, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and the Americas.
