Torild Skard was the 29th President of the Norwegian Association for Women’s Rights from 2006 to 2013. She is a former Member of Parliament for the Socialist Left Party in Norway and served as President of the Upper Chamber. She later served as Director for Questions relating to the Status of Women of UNESCO, Director-General and Deputy Secretary-General responsible for Development Cooperation at the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Regional Director for West and Central Africa at UNICEF and Senior Researcher at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs. She was Chairman of the UNICEF Executive Board at the international level 1988–1989. She has written several books, including Continent of Mothers, Continent of Hope (2003) on African development and Women of Power (2014) on female heads of state or government worldwide.
Torild Skard became a Commander of the National Order of the Lion of Senegal in 1998 and a Commander of the Order of St. Olav in 2012. She became an honorary member of the Norwegian Association for Women’s Rights in 2014.