Pernille Ironside is a Child Protection Specialist in Emergencies based at UNICEF Headquarters in New York. She is the organization’s technical specialist at the global level on two issues: (i) the recruitment of children by armed forces and armed groups and their release and reintegration, and (ii) protecting separated and unaccompanied children in emergencies. Her role is to develop policy and technical guidance on these issues in collaboration with partner organizations, as well as to provide direct technical support to UNICEF’s field programmes. Prior to being transferred to UNICEF HQ, Ms. Ironside was posted in Goma, DRC where she managed UNICEF’s child protection programme in the conflict-affected eastern region. Ms. Ironside has been working with the United Nations since 2002 and has held previous posts with the UN Peacekeeping Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC), UNICEF Headquarters and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in New York.