Gillian Clark

Who was Gillian Clark?

Gillian Clark was a Canadian aid worker who was killed in the Canal Hotel bombing in Iraq. Ms. Clark was working for the Christian Children's Fund at the time. She was a graduate of the University of Guelph.

Gill was committed to aid work, in 1988 she was sent to Papua New Guinea with CUSO, she also worked for OXFAM and International Rescue Committee amongst others, always working in the more difficult parts of the world and often focusing her work on children and children's rights. She joined Save the Children UK and in the mid 90's worked in North Iraq. For her work she visited many complex emergencies, like Sri Lanka, Sierra Leone, Indonesia and Afghanistan.

The CCF hired Clark in January 2003 to manage its efforts to help Iraqi children as war loomed, but she was not able to enter the country until May 2003. Part of her work was to assess the problems faced by Iraqis, evaluating how children were faring psychologically and determining humanitarian needs.

On her death, CCF spokeswoman Ellie Whinnery told in an interview: