Another important milestone for the Chairperson of the IBCR Board of Directors, Najat Maalla M’Jid, who was appointed Special Representative on Violence against Children by the UN Secretary-General on Thursday May 30th.  Ms. Maalla M’Jid previously worked for the United Nations from 2008 to 2014 as Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography. 

A paediatrician by training, Najat Maalla M’jid has been working for nearly 25 years to protect and defend the rights of the most vulnerable children. In Morocco, she has been involved in the training of social workers and the development of a national policy on child protection. She founded Bayti (“My Home”), a non-governmental organization whose mission is to protect, care for and reintegrate children in difficulty in Morocco, and to promote respect for their rights. Bayti is an important partner of the IBCR, particularly in the framework of the “Protection of Children, Women and Other Vulnerable Communities (PRODEF)” project, through which several volunteer cooperants have been deployed in Morocco to support the organization. 

Ms. Maalla M’jid is also an international consultant and professor in the fields of child rights, social protection policies, human development and social engineering. She is a member of the Advisory Council on Human Rights of Morocco, in charge of the commission on “Protection, promotion and monitoring of the rights of the child”. At the international level, her commitment and dedication to the most vulnerable children is also reflected in her work with several non-governmental and intergovernmental organizations, as well as in her various research work dealing with children in difficult circumstances, such as child victims of violence, sexual exploitation or other forms of exploitation, abandoned children, unaccompanied migrant minors, and minors in detention.

Winner of several prizes and distinctions, including the Nathalie-Masse Prize (International Centre for Children and the Family, 1997), the European Prize for Social Paediatrics (1997), the French Republic Human Rights Prize (2000), she was awarded the French Legion of Honour in 2003.

The International Bureau for Children’s Rights would like to thank Ms. Maalla M’Jid for her dedication to the cause of children, and to warmly congratulate her on this new step in her commitment, and this new challenge that she will be able to meet with flying colours.