is a unique personality; dignified and modest, disciplined yet flexible, most of all a humanist. As head of the National Council for Childhood and Motherhood (NCCM) since December 1999, Khattab deals on a daily basis with the implementation of the rights of welfare of children and mother. The NCCM is mandated to coordinate the activities of all bodies working for children. It is tasked with setting up a vision for childhood within the framework of the Five Year Plan for economic and social development, formulating strategies and action plans, as well as monitoring, evaluating and coordinating the activities of various stakeholders, including government entities and NGOs. Before working for children, Khattab was a career diplomat, serving as assistant minister for foreign affairs in charge of international cultural relations. She served as ambassador of Egypt to the Republic of South Africa, and non-resident ambassador to the Republic of Botswana and to the Kingdom of Lesotho. She also served as Egypt's ambassador to the Czech Republic and to the Slovak Republic. Khattab was also a member of the Egyptian delegation to the UN General Assembly. Khattab has also represented the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) at a number of international events. She has interacted actively with the committee and widened the international network of the NCCM. In particular, Khattab sought to address misconceptions and open channels of cooperation between Muslim countries and UNCRC. On her initiative, a series of meetings between UNICEF and Arab country members of the UNCRC were instrumental in establishing closer cooperation. Ambassador Khattab takes special notice of the NCCM's partnership with NGOs, a partnership that has proven effective not only for implementation but also programme planning. She spends a considerable amount of her time and energy promoting the culture of respecting human rights, especially the rights of the child and particularly the rights of girls. The year 2001 heralded a societal movement to uphold the rights of girls. It was followed by the declaration of the Year of the Girl Child. The aim was to raise awareness on the value of the girl child as well as instilling confidence in young girls with regard to their sense of self worth. Khattab manages to do the near impossible of balancing her work and her family life. She is a mother of two and a grandmother of two. The NCCM's current project focuses on formulating amendments to Egypt's Child Law 12/1996. Some proposed amendments include: * Raising the minimum age for criminal responsibility to 12 years, and marriageable age for girls to 18 years. * Separating children from adults in detention centres. * Inserting a new section on social and psychological measures for the protection of children at risk, and their families, and establishing a mechanism to monitor and assist children at risk. * Strengthening penalties on parents who abandon their children or relinquish their responsibilities. * Prohibiting all forms of violence against children, ending impunity and strengthening measures of prevention and protection. * Criminalising harmful practices against female children, such as female genital mutilation and early marriage. * Prohibiting the worst forms of child labour, as well as child labour below statutory minimum age, and ensure the enrolment of illegal child workers in schools. * Formulating legislation criminalising the exploitation of children through the Internet and other information technologies, as well as sexual exploitation, the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography. * Reinforcing penalties on perpetrators of sexual exploitation and on those facilitating such acts.
