Rabat – Amina Bouayach, President of the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI), has called for stronger human rights protection across Africa in the wake of the growing challenges that threaten rights and freedom.
Bouayach, who is also the president of the Moroccan Human Rights Council (CNDH), made the remarks last week at the opening of a conference of the African Network of National Human Rights Institutions (RINADH) in Cameroon’s capital.
Speaking to officials from the African Union, international organizations, and human rights experts from Africa and beyond, Bouayach warned that the current regional and global context shows a decline in multilateral human rights action, alongside worsening political, security, economic, and environmental crises.
In this context, she called for renewed efforts to strengthen human rights protection systems across the continent. She said that the rule of law must be a central pillar for stability and development in Africa.
Bouayach said African and international human rights systems should not be seen as competing frameworks. Instead, they are complementary. International treaties, she explained, provide reference standards, while regional mechanisms play a key role in interpreting these rules and adapting them to local realities.
She also recalled major obstacles that continue to limit the effective enjoyment of rights and freedoms in Africa. These include the weak use of African legal mechanisms, limited institutional capacity, and a persistent gap between international commitments and national laws. Bouayach further pointed to restricted access to justice for large segments of the African population.
According to her, security threats, climate change, and health crises have also had a serious impact on human rights, as they reduce states’ ability to meet their legal obligations.
For example, the ongoing conflict in Sudan has severely limited access to food, healthcare, and justice, while Somalia continues to face insecurity that weakens state institutions and basic rights protection.
Bouayach said that acknowledging implementation challenges is not a sign of weakness but of awareness and ambition. Recognizing these difficulties, she noted, is a necessary step toward closing the gap between legal texts and realities on the ground. Doing so would help strengthen the rule of law and rebuild public trust in justice systems and institutions whenever abuses or violations occur, she argued.
The CNDH head added that she is firmly convinced that the continent has real assets, including strong legal tools, case law, and practices that enrich universal human rights standards. The main challenge is to adopt clear structures, mechanisms, and procedures that place human rights at the center of resilience, stability, and social cohesion.
She additionally also spoke about the key role of national human rights institutions in protecting rights and freedoms. She said these bodies are essential for monitoring public policies, assessing their impact, documenting violations, and promoting a culture of human rights within societies.
However, she warned that many national institutions still face serious constraints, including limited powers, weak independence, and insufficient funding, which reduce their effectiveness.
To address this, Bouayach called on African states to strengthen legal and institutional guarantees for the independence of national human rights institutions and to fully align their work with the Paris Principles, which set international standards for such bodies.
Bouayach is the first woman from Africa to lead GANHRI.
