Ms Najat Mokhtar is from Morocco. She has a PhD in Nutrition and Public Health from Laval University in Canada and has a doctorate in food sciences from the University of Dijon in France. She has done her post-doctoral training at John Hopkins University, USA. She worked as University Professor and Research Director at the University Ibn Tofail in Morocco for more than 20 years. She was a Technical Officer at IAEA (2001-2007) in Vienna, Austria. From 2008-2012, she was the Director of Science and Technology at the Hassan II Academy of Science and Technology in Morocco where she coordinated the national strategy on Education and Research. She is currently the Director of Technical Cooperation for Asia and the Pacific region at the IAEA.

Throughout her professional career, she has contributed to the publication of several books and peer reviewed publications and she worked as a consultant for various organizations and national and international instutitions (Ministry of Health, Ministry of Education, WFP, USAID, WHO, UNICEF, FAO). She was mandated by the Moroccan government as national coordinator to develop "National Nutrition Strategy in Morocco 2011-2019", including training, education and research. In March 2011, she was elected President of the Moroccan Society of Nutrition.