Rabat – Morocco was elected to be a member of the UN’s Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) from 2024 to 2027 on Thursday in New York.
The country’s membership was approved by 153 out of 181 member states who voted during the meeting of state parties on the Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.
The election is the first in Morocco’s history. The North African country will be represented on the committee by Abderrahman Tlemcani.
Tlemcani possesses a pedigree in being a member of similar commissions against hate speech, having been the president of Anti-Racism Group for Accompanying and Defending Foreigners and Migrants (GADEM).
The election has been received as a sign of progress made in Morocco regarding the issue, especially as more protections against racial discrimination and hate speech have been ratified since the implementation of the 2011 constitution.
Recently on June 19, Morocco’s Permanent Mission to the UN held a high-level event to mark the second International Day for Countering Hate Speech, highlighting the fights of several notable activists that fought against racial discrimination.
The Committee will be composed of eighteen independent experts who will be responsible for monitoring the implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.
Despite progress made in recent years, a not insignificant portion of Moroccans still believe that racial discrimination is a problem in the country.
While a recent report from the Arab Barometer found that 55% of Moroccans do not think racial discrimination is an issue in the country, 11% of respondents said they had experienced racially discriminating language being used against them in the past.
Moroccans living in the Oriental region were more likely to think of discrimination as an issue, potentially due to the high population of sub-Saharan African immigrants living there.
