Pernille Ironside has spent nearly two decades advocating for the rights of children in need, working in conflict and disaster zones with the United Nations. She has been involved in the delivery of humanitarian assistance and protection that has benefited millions of vulnerable children and their families. This has included the negotiated release and reintegration of thousands of ‘child soldiers’ from armed forces/groups, in contexts as diverse as Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo (Goma), Iraq, Myanmar, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Somalia, South Sudan, State of Palestine (Gaza) and Yemen.
Ironside has consistently challenged herself to make a difference in the lives of vulnerable children. Much of her career has been as a child protection specialist on the front lines, protecting children from violence, exploitation and abuse – whether in eastern Congo during one of the worst humanitarian crises at the time, in Yemen prior to the current conflict, or in the Philippines (Tacloban) in the aftermath of super-typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) as part of an immediate response team. At UNICEF Headquarters in New York, she advised senior leaders and front line workers in 20 countries affected by armed conflict and/or natural disaster.
While UNICEF’s Chief of Field Office in the Gaza Strip, she and her team were awarded an internal UNICEF staff team award for their humanitarian action during the 51-day conflict in 2014. More recently, she was UNICEF’s Chief of Field Operations in Iraq (Baghdad), where she led efforts to deliver humanitarian assistance to vulnerable children and their families across Iraq, particularly in relation to the Anbar and Mosul crises.
Since January 2017, Ironside has been serving as UNICEF’s Deputy Representative in Nigeria (Abuja), which is amongst UNICEF’s largest development and humanitarian programs. She has led the preparation of a strategic new five-year partnership for UNICEF in Nigeria, aimed at helping Africa’s most populous country to accelerate results for children in the most deprived areas, and thus progress towards achieving the key Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. She also chaired the development of a new inter-agency UN Strategic Development Partnership Framework (2018-2021) for the broader United Nations with the Government of Nigeria.
In addition to her work with UNICEF, Ironside has held positions with the UN Peacekeeping Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC) in Goma, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in New York, the Canadian Human Rights Commission and the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade.
She has received numerous commendations, including the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal (2012), and was named one of Canada’s Top 40 Under 40 (2007) by Caldwell Partners for outstanding achievement. A licensed lawyer, Ironside holds Canadian degrees in Commerce (UofA) and Law (York U), and a Masters in Law (Columbia U). Pernille was born and raised in Edmonton and is mother to a son born earlier this year.