Najat Maalla M'jid is a Moroccan pediatrician who serves as the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

br>Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children
She was appointed to the role by

Secretary-General of the United Nations The secretary-general of the United Nations (UNSG or SG) is the chief administrative officer of the United Nations and head of the United Nations Secretariat, one of the six principal organs of the United Nations. The role of the secretary-g ...

António Guterres António Manuel de Oliveira Guterres ( , ; born 30 April 1949) is a Portuguese politician and diplomat. Since 2017, he has served as secretary-general of the United Nations, the ninth person to hold this title. A member of the Portuguese Socia ...

in May 2019. M'jid previously served as the

Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography The Special Rapporteur on the Sale and Sexual Exploitation of Children works on behalf of the United Nations Human Rights Council to investigate the exploitation of children around the world and make recommendations to governments on how to end s ...

from 2008 to 2014.

Early life and education

M'jid studied medicine at the

University of Bordeaux The University of Bordeaux (French: ''Université de Bordeaux'') is a public university based in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. It has several campuses in the cities and towns of Bordeaux, Dax, Gradignan, Périgueux, Pessac, and Ta ...

and received a doctorate in general medicine from the

University of Rabat Mohammed V University (, french: Université Mohammed-V de Rabat), in Rabat, Morocco, was founded in 1957 under a royal decree ( Dahir). It is the first modern university in Morocco after the University of al-Qarawiyyin in Fez. History The uni ...

. She also received a master's in

human rights Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...

from the

Human Rights Institute The European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, usually known in English as the Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA), is a Vienna-based agency of the European Union inaugurated on 1 March 2007. It was established by Council Regulation (EC) No 168/20 ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

Career

After university, M'jid worked as a doctor and became the Head of the Pediatric Department and Director of the

Hay Hassani Hay Hassani ( ar, الحي الحسني) is a district, arrondissement and suburb of southwestern Casablanca, in the Berrechid Province of the Casablanca-Settat region of Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the ...

Mother-Child hospital in

Casablanca Casablanca, also known in Arabic as Dar al-Bayda ( ar, الدَّار الْبَيْضَاء, al-Dār al-Bayḍāʾ, ; ber, ⴹⴹⴰⵕⵍⴱⵉⴹⴰ, ḍḍaṛlbiḍa, : "White House") is the largest city in Morocco and the country's econom ...

. She founded the

Non-governmental organization A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...

Bayti, which works with

homeless youth Youth homelessness is the problem of homelessness of young people around the globe. Overview Youth homelessness is a significant social issue globally, both in developing countries and many developed countries. In developing countries, research ...

in Morocco. M'jid has served as a member of the Moroccan National Council on Human Rights and the Board of the African Child Policy Forum.

References

Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Mohammed V University alumni Moroccan diplomats Moroccan expatriates in France Moroccan officials of the United Nations Moroccan physicians Moroccan women diplomats Moroccan women physicians Neonatologists Pediatricians Special Representatives of the Secretary-General of the United Nations United Nations special rapporteurs University of Bordeaux alumni Women pediatricians {{UN-bio-stub