Benjamin Perks is the Head of Campaigns and Advocacy in the Division of Global Communications and Advocacy  at the United Nations Children’s Fund, based in New York. He leads public and policy advocacy on the development and protection of children. He is lead UN coordinator for International Day of Play and for the 2026 UNICEF/WHO Global caregiver Forum. 

He previously served in human rights diplomacy roles as the UNICEF Representative and UN Resident Coordinator (ad interim) to both the Republic of North Macedonia and the Republic of Montenegro. In both capacities he advocated for reforms to fulfill international human rights commitments and realization of the Sustainable Development Goals. 

He has served in Georgia, Kosovo, Afghanistan, India and Albania. He led the Back-to-School campaign in the Northern Afghanistan which brought 3 million children, including 1 million girls, into school-most of them for the first times in their lives. He has led work on demobilization of child solders, deinstitutionalization of children in state care, addressing child poverty, pre-school expansion and  disability inclusion .

Ben is Senior Fellow at the Jubilee Centre at the University of Birmingham in the UK, which researches education policy on character, social and emotional development of children and an Associate Faculty Member at Oxford University Department of Social Policy and Innovation . He is recognized as a public speaker and campaigner on child development and protection .His book Trauma Proof: Healing, Attachment and the Science of Prevention came out in 2025. His TedX talk on Adverse Childhood Experiences can be found here and a  recent commentary in Nature Journal  here .