Erin Mooney is an internationally recognised senior expert on forced migration, human rights / protection of civilians, humanitarian affairs and peacebuilding, with over 30 years of UN and other international professional experience, both at UN Headquarters and in more than 30 conflict and disaster contexts in Africa, Middle East, Europe (Ukraine, South Caucasus, Western Balkans), Asia and the Americas.
Her extensive work experience with the United Nations includes serving as Chief of Civil Affairs, for the UN peacekeeping mission in Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO per the French acronym), Senior Adviser to the UN Representative of the Secretary-General on IDPs (1996-2006), Senior Protection Adviser with the UN’s Protection Capacity (2006-2023) and with a wide range of UN offices including the UN High Commissioner Refugees (UNHCR), Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), UN Development Programme (UNDP), UNICEF, the Office of the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative on Children and Armed Conflict, International Organization for Migration (IOM), and the UN peacekeeping mission for Darfur (UNAMID).
She also has served as a consultant to several INGOs, Governments (e.g., Switzerland, US, Canada) regional organizations (e.g. Council of Europe, African Union), universities and thinktanks, including serving as Deputy Director of the Brookings Institution Project on Internal Displacement (2001-2006), Deputy Director of the Centre for Displacement Studies at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies (2002-2004) and Deputy Team Leader of the first-ever UN Independent Review on the Global Humanitarian Response to Internal Displacement, undertaken by the U.K.’s Overseas Development Institute (2023-2024), at the request of the UN Secretary-General.
From 2008-2010, she was Professor (Adjunct) of International Relations at the University of Toronto. Current academic appointments (non-stipendiary) include serving as a Senior Fellow of the Bill Graham Centre for Contemporary International History and a Professor of International Practice at the Institute for the Study of International Development at McGill University.
Her more than 100 publications include not only academic publications but also various official “core guidance” published by the United Nations and regional organizations on a range of issues including: internally displaced persons (IDPs), durable solutions to displacement, protection of civilians, children and armed conflict, education in emergencies, electoral rights, and genocide prevention.
As of 2024, she serves as Chief of Civil Affairs in the UN peacekeeping mission (MONUSCO) for the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
