King Mohammed VI has appointed Amina Bouayach as the new president of the National Council of Human Rights (CNDH).
Rabat – The King appointed Bouayach during a royal reception at the Royal Palace in Rabat on Thursday, according to a statement from the Royal Cabinet .
Bouayach will replace Driss El Yazami, who has been head of the National Council of Human Rights (CNDH) since March 2011.
“After recalling the council’s positive contribution to the promotion of human rights in our country,” the King’s decision accompanies efforts to continue “to strengthen and enhance the achievements made by Morocco in this field,” reads the Royal Cabinet statement.
The monarch emphasized “the need for the Council, in its new composition and as an independent National Institution, to fulfill the missions assigned to it,” regarding the national mechanism for the prevention of torture, child rights violations, and the protection the rights of people with disabilities.
Founded in March 2011, the CNDH is a national institution responsible for the protection and promotion of human rights in Morocco. It replaced the former Advisory Council on Human Rights, which was established in May 1990.
The CNDH is accredited as an “A” status NHRI by the International Coordinating Committee (ICC) in accordance with the UN General Assembly’s international standards adopted in 1993.
The council publishes annual reports on the situation of human rights and related issues in Morocco. It also monitors and investigates human rights violations and advises on national legislation in accordance with international human rights conventions.
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Who is Amina Bouayach?
Bouayach was appointed Morocco’s ambassador to Sweden in 2016.
Born in 1957 in Tetouan, Bouayach is a human rights activist who has worked with the UN, the African Union and the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network.
Known for defending women rights, Bouayach was the first woman to be at the head of major Moroccan NGO the Moroccan Organization of Human Rights (OMDH), a role which she assumed in 2006.
The newly-elected CNDH president spent two years working with renowned sociologist Fatima Mernissi on Women’s Rights, namely Muslim women’s rights.
In 2011, King Mohammed VI appointed Bouayach as a member of the Consultative Commission on Constitutional Reform in the midst of the Arab Spring. The King awarded her the Order of the Throne for her contribution to the Moroccan Constitution.
Bouayach has received many awards, including the French Legion of Honour in 2014, for her integrity and constant involvement for human rights.
She has a master’s degree in economics from Mohammed V University in Rabat.
