INTERNATIONAL DAY FOR STREET CHILDREN 2022

On 30 May 2019, the UN Secretary-General appointed Dr Najat Maalla M’jid as his Special Representative on Violence against Children. Dr Maalla M’jid is a paediatric doctor who has devoted herself to protecting and promoting children’s rights for over three decades.

Dr Maalla M’jid is a member of the Moroccan National Council on Human Rights and founder of the non-governmental organization Bayti, the first programme addressing the situation of children living and working in the streets of Morocco. From 2008 to 2014, she served as the UN Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography.

Dr Maalla M’jid holds a doctorate in general medicine from the University of Rabat, with a specialization in paediatrics and neonatology from the University of Bordeaux II and a master’s degree in human rights from the Human Rights Institute in Geneva. She has received numerous awards and honours for her tireless commitment to protecting children’s rights.

Mr Likibi trained as a psychologist at the Republic of the Congo’s Ecole Nationale d’Administration et de Magistrature. He has held the positions of director of a child protection institution and director of the legal protection of children in the Congolese public administration. He also studied international human rights law at the International Institute of Human Rights in Strasbourg. 

Mr Likibi is currently national coordinator of the Réseau des Intervenants sur le Phénomène des Enfants en Rupture (REIPER), which has 22 member associations. He is also a member of the Child Protection Working Group (CPWG) at the national level.

Jean Dzéné has been head of the Children in Street Situations and Strategy international programme at the Fondation d’Auteuil since 2015. Previously, he worked as a social worker, head of service and director in the field of child protection, mainly in relation to children in street situations and unaccompanied minors in Burkina Faso, Mali and France. He holds a master’s degree in education science and a certificate in leadership and complex management from Sciences Po Paris. Jean Dzéné is committed to helping to find solutions for children in street situations across the globe.

Hynd Ayoubi Idrissi holds a Ph.D. in human rights from the University of Grenoble. She has been a member of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child since 2015 and is currently its vice-chair. Professor of law and coordinator of the master’s programme in children’s rights at the Rabat-Souissi Mohammed V University, she co-founded the UNESCO chair on “Women and their rights” at the university’s Faculty of Law. She has authored several studies and reports on children’s and women’s rights and migration and was a member of the High Council of the Judiciary in Morocco (2017–2021).

Ms Ayoubi Idrissi is vice-dean for scientific research and cooperation at the Faculty of Law, Economics and Social Sciences of Rabat-Souissi Mohammed V University and served as Director of International Relations in the Ministry of Human Rights in 2002.

Laura Hendricksen is a graduate of Sciences Po Paris and holds a master’s degree in international affairs. She began her career in humanitarian assistance to refugees and migrants and the defence of their rights in Brazil with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and in Switzerland with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). Her subsequent experiences working in the field with international non-governmental organizations (Caritas, Front Line Defenders) strengthened her commitment to taking up the cause of those whose voices are not heard to challenge States and change the way society perceives them.

In 2015, Ms Hendricksen joined the Fondation d’Auteuil, where she has contributed to developing its activities for unaccompanied minors in Europe and advocating at the international level for the rights of children in street situations. She is currently its Director of International Cooperation.

Marie Madeleine Tiendrebéogo is the founder and president of Kogl Taaba, an association that welcomes and trains young girls in vulnerable situations. She set up the association after observing the lack of access to education and social exclusion affecting many girls and women in Burkina Faso. 

Ms Tiendrebéogo herself had to leave school because she could not afford it. Later, she trained at the Ecole ménagère, perfecting her sewing skills. Since the creation of the association, Ms Tiendrebéogo has been passing on her knowledge and experience to young women who in turn pass it on to others.

Jorge Roldán del Solar has been a community social worker with the Qosqo Maki association for over 20 years. He cares for children and young people living on the streets and supports them on their way through life. Jorge is responsible for the dormitory, which he manages with the help of the young people. He organizes the social work team and coordinates with the other teams of Qosqo Maki. He espouses an alternative educational approach that consists in helping their young charges to implement their life projects, assume their responsibilities and value their capacities. Jorge Roldán del Solar is committed to the defence of the rights of this vulnerable population and contributes to Qosqo Maki’s work to make them visible.

Carl Lacharité, Ph.D., is a psychologist and full professor of psychology at the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières. Throughout his career, he has worked to develop respectful and ethical ways of working with struggling families. Over the past 30 years, he has helped to create a network of family houses in Quebec. He is particularly interested in the challenges of intersectoral action with children and families. His work has been published in several international journals and currently serves as the basis for developing participatory approaches in child protection.

Christophe Beau has worked for more than 20 years in child protection. In particular, he was director of a children’s home and a home-based educational service. Today, he is overseeing the establishment in France and internationally of a reception and prevention system (“family houses”) for families in vulnerable situations, based on their self-empowerment. Christophe Beau is a specialized social worker, holds a master’s degree in social and health law and is a certified professional coach. He believes strongly in supporting families and children.

Lucy Halton is the Senior Legal & Advocacy Officer at the Consortium for Street Children, where she works to make the rights of children in street situations a reality. With over 10 years of experience working with and for children and young people in different situations, Lucy is committed to the full implementation of children’s rights. She has a Masters in Human Rights Law from SOAS, University of London, and has worked in contexts ranging from refugee camps to the diplomatic world of Geneva.

A graduate of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Geneva, Nicolas Liengme is a psychiatrist and psychotherapist specializing in children and adolescents. He has his own practice in Geneva. He is the co-founder of Païdos, an association that helps children, adolescents and families in difficulty in Geneva. Dr Liengme and his team are developing a recognized tool, “Self-portrait with psycho-pedagogical support”, for which it received an award from the global network Ashoka.