UN SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR ON SALE OF CHILDREN, CHILD PROSTITUTION AND CHILD PORNOGRAPHY TO VISIT ESTONIA AND LATVIA

17 October 2008

The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, Najat M'jid Maalla, will undertake country visits to Estonia from 20-24 October 2008, and to Latvia from 25-31 October 2008, at the invitation of each Government.

The Special Rapporteur will meet with Government officials, civil society members and representatives of United Nations agencies, and will also conduct visits outside of the capital cities.

At the end of each country visit, the Special Rapporteur will hold a press conference to share her preliminary findings with representatives of the media. Based on the information obtained during each visit, the Special Rapporteur will present a report containing her conclusions and recommendations to a forthcoming session of the Human Rights Council.

Najat M'jid Maalla (Morocco) was appointed Special Rapporteur in May 2008. Ms. M'jid Maalla is a medical doctor in pediatrics, who has been involved for the past two decades in the protection of vulnerable children. She has notably been involved in the training of social workers in her country, and in the drafting of studies on the situation of child victims of trafficking, of violence and of sexual or other forms of exploitation; children living in the street; institutionalized children; unaccompanied children; children deprived of parental care, etc. She participated in the elaboration of the Moroccan national policy on the protection of the child, and has worked with several non-governmental and inter-governmental organizations. She is a member of the Commission on the Rights of the Child of the Moroccan Consultative Council on Human Rights, and the founder and an active member of the non-governmental organization BAYTI, the first programme addressing the situation of children living in the street in Morocco.


For further information on the mandate of the Special Rapporteur, please visit the website of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
( http://www2.ohchr.org/english/issues/children/rapporteur/index.htm

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