Dr Najat Maalla M'jid

Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General on Violence against Children, United Nations

On 30 May 2019, the Secretary-General appointed Dr. Najat Maalla M’jid (Morocco) as his Special Representative on Violence against Children.

Dr. Maalla M’jid took her position on 1st July 2019, ten years after Marta Santos Pais (Portugal) was appointed as first Special Representative on Violence against Children. Dr. M’jid, a medical doctor in paediatrics, has over the last three decades devoted her life to the promotion and protection of children’s rights. She was Head of the Paediatric Department and Director of the Hay Hassani Mother-Child hospital in Casablanca.

Dr. M’jid was a member of the Moroccan National Council on Human Rights and founder of the non-governmental organisation Bayti, the first programme addressing the situation of children living and working in the streets of Morocco.

From 2008 to 2014, she served as United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography. Dr. M’jid also worked as an Expert-Consultant for national and international projects, strategies and policies relating to child rights’ promotion and protection. She has vast experience in the development of national policies on the protection of the child, and has worked with several governments, non-governmental and in-ter-governmental organisations.

She also worked as a lecturer in Moroccan and international universities on child rights’ protection, promotion, programming and monitoring, as well as social and development policies. A member of several regional and international non-governmental organisations and networks working for children’s rights,

Dr. M’jid was also involved in the training of social workers, law enforcement, teachers, judges, and medical staff. Dr. M’jid holds a Doctorate in general medicine from the University of Rabat, a specialization in paediatrics and neonatology from the University of Bordeaux II and a Master of Human Rights from the Human Rights Institute, Geneva. She is the recipient of numerous awards and honours for her strong commit¬ment to protecting the rights of the child.