I made many personal sacrifices to achieve my life-long goal: the protection of children's rights. I live in a rented flat and use my old car in order to pay the tuition fees of my daughters."

Najat M’jid is a paediatrician and director of Mother and Child Clinic, Casablanca. She is the head and founder of the association BAYTI, the first Moroccan tailored institution for street children’s rehabilitation and reintegration that works directly with children. The institution’s programs squarely address problems such as child labor, violation of the law, child maltreatment – including sexual abuse – and child trafficking. In 2000 Dr Najat M’jid was nominated for the "Chevalier de la Legion d’Honneur" (Knight of the Legion of Honor) in France for her work on Human Rights.

The driving force for the protection of children’s rights in Morocco, Najat M’jid has lobbied for effectuating legislative reforms in the country, which denounce violations of children’s rights. Najat has assumed her grassroots work through a number of foundations concerned with children’s welfare, at both national and international levels. She is a consultant for The United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) and the State Secretariat for Childhood, NGOs, and she is the regional focal point for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), analyzing and evaluating issues regarding child sexual abuse, health, education, poverty and family rejection. Najat has worked untiringly towards the adoption of national rehabilitative plans for vulnerable children and the foundation of state-run agencies to deal with children’s problems. Her lobby has effectively assisted in improving the living conditions of minors in detention and in saving street children from sexual exploitation, about which she has vocalized concerns in the MENA region. Najat has made great strides forward in the creation of a network of Arab NGOs working for childhood welfare. With the sponsorship of the World Bank and European Union (EU), she has also participated in a number of international conferences on the rights of children and other connected issues in Stockholm, Yokohama, New York and also for example in Madrid at the International Summit on Democracy, Terrorism and Security. The rehabilitative plans that Najat M’jid has set up have been adopted in Tunisia, France, Cambodia, Spain, Jordan, Yemen, Senegal and Mali.

Mother and Child Clinic BAYTI Association