Nigel Fisher has lived and worked in more than a dozen countries in Asia, the Middle East, Africa and the Caribbean, as well as in Canada, where he was President and CEO of UNICEF Canada for almost five years. As Kathryn White, President and CEO of UNA-Canada, points out, "Nigel has a long record of leadership in situations of crisis and civil conflict within the United Nations and its partners, most recently in the Middle East, where he was UN Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for the crisis in Syria. He has also put himself at risk by coming to the aid of the most vulnerable."

A former UN Under-Secretary-General, Mr. Fisher negotiated with warlords, rebel groups, governments and international military coalitions for humanitarian access to civilians during armed conflicts and for the release of children captured by armed groups. He has also been actively involved in the development of international normative frameworks to promote gender equality, access to healthcare, the fight against child labor and the stigmatization of people living with HIV/AIDS, as well as in the development of conflict-related standards, notably within the framework of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention.