Rabat – UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres met with Amina Bouayach, head of Morocco’s National Human Rights Council (CNDH) and current president of the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI), to discuss how national institutions could claim a stronger voice in shaping the global agenda.
The meeting, held yesterday at the UN headquarters in New York, reflects a growing push from Bouayach and the GANHRI network to ensure that institutions rooted in local realities help guide international decisions, especially as the world confronts overlapping crises.
Bouayach spoke on behalf of more than 120 national institutions across the globe. She thanked Guterres for placing rights at the core of the UN’s work and called his “Call to Action” and the “Pact for the Future” crucial reference points for those working to defend dignity on the ground.
“Human rights are not a decorative element of global diplomacy,” she said. “They form the very core of justice. National institutions speak with the voices of those who often go unheard, victims, citizens, activists, and carry their realities from the field to decision-making halls.”
During the meeting, Bouayach laid out two key proposals to Guterres.
First, she called for national institutions to be granted formal participation in key UN platforms held in New York, such as the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), the High-Level Political Forum (HLPF), and the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW).
These forums shape the UN’s long-term goals, and Bouayach argued that national institutions, with their direct knowledge of conditions on the ground, would bring valuable contributions.
Second, she urged for a greater role for GANHRI in the upcoming “UN80” initiative, a UN-wide reflection ahead of its 80th anniversary.
With growing mistrust in global systems and widening gaps between people and power, Bouayach urged the UN to restore the balance between its three founding pillars: peace and security, development, and human rights.
“This moment calls for courage,” she said. “Rights must return to the center of international reform.”
Bouayach also pointed to the existing partnership between GANHRI, the UN Human Rights Office, and UNDP as a model of collaboration that supports national institutions in bolstering their work and independence.
This tripartite effort held its annual gathering in New York earlier this week, just before she met with Guterres.
“The challenges we face today are not abstract. They touch lives,” Bouayach lamented.
“GANHRI will remain fully engaged in defending rights across borders. We ask the United Nations to stand with us, so that every country has an institution that protects the dignity of its people, with independence and real impact,” she added.
Bouayach was elected president of GANHRI by unanimous vote in March. The election followed strong backing from the African regional group, NANHRI, which officially nominated Bouayach in January 2025.
