Merlin chief executive awarded New Year Honour

The chief executive of the medical charity Merlin has been recognised in the New Year Honours List.

Carolyn Miller is one of 40 women to be awarded the CBE in 2013 for her humanitarian and development work around the world.

For the past eight years Carolyn has overseen Merlin’s work to improve access to healthcare in emergencies and fragile states. She became chief executive in 2005, just days after the Indian Ocean tsunami prompted Merlin’s largest ever emergency response.

Since then she has overseen medical aid missions in some of the world’s worst disasters – including cyclone Nargis in Myanmar, the Haiti earthquake and the food crisis in Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya.

She has also developed Merlin’s longer-term work to help governments rebuild their health systems after years of war in countries including the Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and campaigned for more trained and better supported health workers globally.

Carolyn joined Merlin after over 20 years of working in international development, including as director for Europe, the Middle East and Americas at the UK Department for International Development and as director of programmes at Save the Children.

Lord Michael Jay, who has been Merlin’s chair since 2007, said: “This is a very well-deserved honour for Carolyn, and I congratulate her on it most warmly. But just as important, it is a great tribute to everyone who works for Merlin in the countries in which we operate and in London.”

Carolyn added: “I am immensely proud to receive this honour in 2013 and believe it is a real testament to Merlin’s success and commitment to working in some of the world’s toughest places - whether the emergency is an earthquake, war or HIV. People often shy away from countries with ongoing conflicts or fragile governments but we are motivated by the greater need in these places.”