The effective realization of the right to development requires a cross-cutting approach that integrates its legal, economic, social, cultural, and environmental dimensions, Morocco’s National Human Rights Council (CNDH) said Friday in Geneva during the biennial panel discussion on the right to development.
Speaking on behalf of the CNDH at the event, held as part of the 63rd session of the UN Human Rights Council, Taoufiq Berdeji, President of the Laayoune Regional Human Rights Commission (CRDH), said that ensuring the effective enjoyment of the right to development, which is inseparable from other human rights, is a priority for the CNDH.
Drawing on its advisory, reporting, and monitoring roles, the CNDH has issued several key recommendations in its reports and opinions to strengthen the implementation of human rights and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), he said.
Berdeji stressed that the effective enjoyment of rights is not merely an outcome of development but also a foundational condition for it. To strengthen practical mechanisms for monitoring the effective enjoyment of rights, including the right to development, through measurable indicators, the CNDH signed a partnership agreement with Morocco’s High Commission for Planning (HCP) in July 2026 to establish a national system of human rights indicators, he noted.
The system will make it possible to better identify social and territorial disparities, situations of vulnerability, and gaps in access to rights, he added.
The CNDH also reaffirmed its continued monitoring of the ongoing process to draft an international covenant on the right to development and called for its adoption to be expedited, with an explicit role for national human rights institutions (NHRIs) in this process.
Speaking during an interactive dialogue with the Independent Expert on the enjoyment of all human rights by older persons on behalf of the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI), which is chaired by the CNDH, Berdeji welcomed Independent Expert Zvezdan Pirtošek’s confirmation that cognitive impairments must in no way undermine the dignity, autonomy, or enjoyment of rights of older persons, as well as the importance attached to enabling them to express their will and participate effectively in decisions affecting their lives.
The report entitled “Cognitive Impairments and the Continued Exercise of Human Rights by Older Persons” also highlights the responsibility of states to ensure the realization of these rights through laws, policies, and practices. In this regard, national human rights institutions can support states by providing independent advice, identifying implementation gaps, and helping ensure that responses are grounded in the experiences and lived realities of older persons, he said.
According to Berdeji, the Alliance also welcomes the report’s alignment with the process of drafting a new legal instrument on the rights of older persons, which should address existing protection gaps and uphold the principles of equality, non-discrimination, dignity, participation, and access to justice.
GANHRI also recommends that the drafting of this instrument draw on the experiences of older persons themselves, with the effective participation of organizations representing them, while recognizing the role of national human rights institutions in protecting and promoting their rights and providing them with the necessary support.
Berdeji finally reaffirmed the Alliance’s commitment to supporting the Independent Expert’s mandate and contributing actively to the intergovernmental process, highlighting the important role of its working group on the rights of older persons.
