As part of the regional consultations initiated by Ms. Amina Bouayach, Chairperson of the National Human Rights Council (CNDH), in February 2023 in Laayoune, Morocco, under the slogan “I Decide My Fate”, the CNDH Regional Commission (CRDH) in the Oriental region organized the 10th regional consultative meeting with children on Friday 10 November, in Oujda, Morocco.

Around 40 children representing diverse backgrounds, including children with disabilities and those involved in legal proceedings, participated in this meeting.

Mr. Mohamed Amarti, CRDH President, underscored the profound significance of protecting and promoting children’s rights within the CNDH’s strategy. He stressed the CNDH’s commitment to protect and promote children’s rights based on international human rights standards/national legislation, implement them and harmonize national legislation with Morocco’s international obligations.

Within the same context, Mr. Amarti emphasized the significant role of the CNDH and its Regional Commissions in monitoring the situation of different groups of children, aiming to formulate recommendations that reinforce the protection of their rights and enhance their quality of life through cooperation with institutional/civil stakeholders.

Addressing the importance of consultative meetings, Mr. Amarti shed light on the significance of involving children from different regions of the Kingdom. This campaign seeks to create a unique platform for listening to children and their opinions on their rights, living conditions, aspirations, concerns, and inquiries.

CRDH President placed a strong emphasis on the institutionalization of the children’s participation principle. He also highlighted the importance of ensuring easy access to both judicial and non-judicial channels for raising complaints and enabling children to evaluate public policies from child rights protection perspective.

Mr. Abdelkarim Alaazani, Coordinator of the National Child Redress Mechanism, interacted with children on the Mechanism’s mission and mandate. He underlined that the Mechanism receives complaints directly from child victims of violations, their legal representatives, or third parties. The Mechanism also conducts investigations into complaints, processes them, and issues decisions based on their findings.

This consultative meeting with children focused on three workshops:
- Education, health and justice;
- Protection and special preventive measures;
- Access to information and participation.

This event provided a platform to raise children’s voices and aspirations on protecting and promoting their rights. This input will be instrumental in developing an independent report on children’s issues, aligned with international standards of child participation. The report will be submitted to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child parallel to the national report.