Amid growing global challenges to human rights, Ms. Amina Bouayach, Chairperson of the National Human Rights Council (CNDH) and of the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI), emphasized both the opportunities and risks associated with AI and the digital sphere. Speaking at the opening of a global human rights summit in San Salvador, she highlighted their increasing importance in shaping political participation and public debate.

The CNDH Chairperson noted that technological advances, particularly in digitalization and AI, offer significant potential to advance human rights. However, they also entail unprecedented risks that extend beyond issues of privacy and discrimination to affect a broader range of fundamental rights and freedoms. In this context, she stressed the urgent need for international governance frameworks capable of ensuring both the protection and promotion of these rights.

She also recalled earlier calls by the CNDH to place human rights at the core of algorithms and advanced systems, from their design and development to their deployment and impact assessment.

Ms. Bouayach noted that political participation is no longer limited to traditional spaces but increasingly taking place in digital environments. “These platforms,” she added, “have become key arenas for debate, expression, and civic mobilization and they must be strengthened as tools that promote transparency, accountability, and democratic engagement.”

Concluding her remarks, she highlighted that international technological governance could play a decisive role in making digital spaces safer and more inclusive, thereby encouraging broader participation.

It is worth noting that the El Salvador Summit, held from September 2 to 4, 2025, aims to foster global dialogue on human rights protection and to promote the exchange of leading national and international practices, contributing to stronger cooperation among human rights actors worldwide.