Melissa Parke
Executive Director of ICAN
Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, 2017
Melissa Parke is the Executive Director of ICAN (International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons), which was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2017 for its "groundbreaking efforts" in promoting the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. The Hon. Melissa Parke was appointed as the Executive Director of ICAN on 1 September 2023.
Ms. Parke is a former Australian Minister for International Development and former Australian federal Member of Parliament (2007 to 2016).
Prior to being elected to the Australian Parliament, Ms. Parke worked as an international lawyer with the United Nations in Kosovo, Gaza, New York and Lebanon (1999 to 2007).
More recently, Ms. Parke served as a member of the UN Group of Eminent Experts on Yemen, mandated by the UN Human Rights Council to investigate violations of international human rights and humanitarian law during the conflict in Yemen (2017-2021).
