In her statement, Mrs. Amina Bouayach, Chairperson of the National Human Rights Council (CNDH) called for establishing a Working Group on gender and women’s rights within the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI). This proposal was made as part of the Knowledge Exchange meeting organized by the GANHRI in its 32nd session and held in the morning of the 5 March 2019 at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.

It is time for our alliance to act, together with stakeholders, for women’s rights, CNDH President stated. Through this alliance we will act to implement human rights principles, she added.

This meeting was an opportunity for the CNDH Chairperson to highlight the efforts Morocco has done to promote women’s rights and to emphasis the challenges faced continuously.

Mrs. Bouayach also shed light on the three stages of the evolution of women’s rights in morocco: starting from the first reform of the Personal Status Code in 1993, then the adoption of the new Family Code in 2004 and, finally the adoption of the Law on combating violence against women in 2018 which came into force to condemn harassment and violence against women in public and private places and define the care provided for women victims of violence.

A positive process, yet, public policies within this area remain narrowed and some acts are not incriminated as underage marriage, she added.

Within this context, the CNDH President pointed out that the government adopted in December 2018 the National Plan of Action for Democracy and Human Rights and that the CNDH expressed its reserve relating a number of measures including the underage marriage.

Mrs. Bouayach also stressed that the CNDH has set up since January 2019, a triple “P” approach for the prevention, protection and promotion of human rights that allows the CNDH to act, inter alia, for the rights of women. The CNDH additionally initiated several actions in this area such as strengthening capacities of actors working with the caring of women victims of violence, advocacy before adopting laws like the case of Soulaliyates and protecting their rights and promoting the culture of equality.

In this regard, the CNDH is organizing several awareness and mobilization actions against underage marriage with a view to contribute, with civil society, to amend Article 20 of the Family Code.