Megan Karlshøj-Pedersen

Megan Karlshøj-Pedersen is the Policy Specialist at the UK-based civilian harm watchdog organization Airwars, where she works at the intersection of military policy, accountability, and civilian protection. She leads policy engagement across the United States, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and other European countries, working with governments, civil society organisations, and military stakeholders to strengthen approaches to civilian harm mitigation and response. Her work has been published by outlets including Just Security, Opinio Juris, and Defence One. She is also a frequent contributor to policy discussions on how militaries can better protect civilians during armed conflict. 

She co-founded the Civilian Protection Monitor (CPM), a framework that benchmarks how states prevent, track, investigate, and respond to civilian harm caused by their own military operations. CPM aims to set new standards for assessing state practice and accountability in armed conflict. Karlshøj-Pedersen also chairs civil society networks engaging directly with the UK and Dutch Ministries of Defence on civilian harm policy and institutional reform.

Before joining Airwars, she was a Conflict Researcher and Advocacy Officer with the Oxford Research Group's Remote Warfare Programme, where she researched the human impact of contemporary military operations and advocated for stronger civilian protection policies.