McAskie has been a part of multiple delegations to the United Nations. She was appointed deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator in 1999. She replaced Sérgio Vieira de Mello and became the interim Emergency Relief Coordinator from 1999–2004 due to De Mello's mission in Timor-Leste. She has assisted in several relief efforts in Africa over her term. As coordinator, she visited Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Kenya on 10 July 2000, to examine the effects of the drought and to organize relief efforts. McAskie visited the Democratic Republic of the Congo in May 2003 to assess renewed fighting in Ituri.
