United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres announced on Thursday the appointment of Moroccan Najat Maalla M'jid as his Special Representative on Violence against Children, with the rank of Deputy Secretary-General. A medical doctor in pediatrics, Najat Maalla M'jid «has been involved for the past two decades in the protection of vulnerable children», Guterres' spokesperson said in a statement. She was head of the paediatrics department and director of the Hay Hassani mother and child hospital in Casablanca, and is a member of the National Human Rights Council (CNDH) and founder of the Bayti association. From 2008 to 2014, Maalla M'jid served as the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography. She is also an expert-consultant for national and international projects, strategies and policies related to the promotion and protection of children's rights. Maalla M'jid succeeds Portugal's Marta Santos Pais, to whom the Secretary-General is «deeply grateful for her leadership and dedicated commitment during her tenure as the first Special Representative on Violence against Children», said his spokesperson.
