Jacqueline Pascarl OAM

In the mid-1990s, Jacqueline established a child literacy initiative, ‘Operation Book Power’ in Kenya, building schools throughout wider East Africa; and in South Africa, she was a special advisor to President Nelson Mandela on his READ Educational Trust. In 1998, she was appointed Special Ambassador for CARE International (later Patron) and worked as an emergency aid worker in the war & disaster zones of Bosnia, Kosovo, Turkey and East Timor, overseeing global operations.

She is recognised internationally as an expert on the Hague Convention and International Parental Child Abduction and has lectured at the US State Department and the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the European Union, the United Kingdom and the International Congress on Family Law and the Rights of Children. The Governing Board of International Social Services headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, invited Jacqueline to take up the role of Independent Governor in April 2023, as the globally recognised organisation which operates in the field of child protection and family reunification in 120 nations, approaches its centenary.

Awarded the UN Special Commendation for the International Year of the Family, and two recognition awards from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, USA, Jacqueline has been a high-profile lobbyist on human rights, women’s rights and refugee issues. Her best-selling books are published in 28 languages.

She conceived Operation Angel in 1997 to champion the needs of women and children in war and disaster zones and continues this relief work in Australia and regionally during times of natural disaster and emergency. Jacqueline continues to function as CEO and the main donor interface.

Nominated six times for Australian of the Year, she was awarded the Humanitarian Overseas Service Medal in 2012 by the Governor General of Australia for her work in conflict zones – the first female recipient (Balkans and East Timor) and latterly, additional clasps for her work in Indian Ocean Tsunami, Christchurch Earthquake and Japan, post Tsunami. 2011 saw her named as an Ambassador to His Holiness, The Dalai Lama.

Appointed by the Australian Government as National Vice Chair of the Australian Defence Force Reserves (making her the first woman on the Executive) Jacqueline also served as Chair of Clinical Research Fundraising, Endocrinology (Research) at the Royal Children’s Hospital, along with several other hospital & medical boards including the Alfred Hospital Prostate Cancer. She was asked by the Chief of Australia’s Defence Forces to advise him on mental health & welfare for partners and spouses of all 90,000 Defence Members across the Army, Air Force and Navy.

July 2020, saw Jacqueline appointed to the Board of Project Rozana (the only woman on the board of directors) – a groundbreaking health and medical initiative to promote peace and understanding between Israel and the Palestinian territories and to provide medical treatments for children and women, training for Health professionals and more recently, respiratory ventilators valued at USD $350K to better combat the COVID19 scourge in Hebron and the West Bank. In addition, she is now advising on an innovative Medical Research project involving Hadassah Hospital in Israel and Monash University which aims to extend the Nephrogenesis development and kidney health in premature babies and achieve better health outcomes for people with chronic kidney disease. Jacqueline has a special interest in the area of SDB, OSA & correlation between perimenopause and the onset of snoring.

Although Australian-born, her background is British, French, Irish, Jewish & Chinese, (she grew up on a dairy farm in Gippsland) Jacqueline speaks 8 languages, has a Master in Advanced Studies in Humanitarian Action, studied People Management in Humanitarian Settings, & Fundamental Principles – International Law, and undertook Observer Protocols Accreditation with the OSCE, and a World Health Organisation Certification in Public Health – Refugee & Camp Planning. In March 2023, Jacqueline was appointed to the Governing Board of the RSL Australia, the pre-eminent National charity and advocacy organisation supporting military veterans, serving Defence Force members and their families.

Additionally, she is a member of the Order of Australia Association. Jacqueline was awarded an Order of Australia in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List in June 2022, for her services to Global Humanity and the Community, by HM Queen Elizabeth II & the Governor General of Australia.

Jacqueline was formerly known as HRH Princess Yasmin of Malaysia but made a conscious decision to move out of Royal life and work in the humanitarian space. She is a qualified Emergency Medic. She based herself back home in Australia where her two eldest children, Prince Iddin and Princess Shahirah, were kidnapped from her legal custody, by their father in 1992. She was separated from her children for almost two decades and afforded no form of contact with them. She is a mother of four adult children and a stepmother of four as well. She resides in Melbourne, Australia with her husband, a surgeon.