Margareta Wahlström

Margareta Wahström is former Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction Margareta Wahlström and former President of the Swedish Red Cross.

She has 35 years of extensive experience in disaster relief operations and disaster risk management in relation to development and political work with the United Nations, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and the private sector.

In 2009-2015 she was the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction, and Head of UNISDR, the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction.

Under Wahlström’s leadership UNISDR designed and supported the inclusive consultations for the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030, and subsequently the inter-governmental negotiations leading to the adoption of the framework by all UN member states in March 2015. The Sendai Framework is the first of the 2015 global policy directions for the coming 15 years.

Geographic expertise

Afghanistan
Lebanon
Palestine
The Philippines
Southern Africa
South America

Topical expertise

Conflict and non-conflict emergencies
Long-term issues of sustainable development

Languages

Swedish
English
French
Spanish

Working for peace in the shadow of a frozen conflict

Since 2008, the European Union Monitoring Mission EUMM has been a constant presence in Georgia. With the mandate to monitor the ceasefire and prevent the conflict between Georgia and Russia from reigniting, the mission works to promote stability and security – and to help ensure a safer daily life for the people affected.

2025-08-26 12:45

Read our publications

The Gender-Responsive Leader's Handbook

Gender equality is both a goal and a prerequisite for sustainable peace and development. FBA’s Gender-Responsive Leadership (GRL) Initiative is designed to support leaders and managers within organizations such as the EU, UN, ECOWAS, OSCE and the African Union to fulfill their central role in enabling gender equal peace, security and development work.

Documents

More Publications

On international deployment

Teresa Wiklund

Monitor at EUMM in Georgia

Kajsa Norman

Election observer

Catalina Perdomo Rodriguez

Adviser to the UN in Colombia

Karolina Riedel

Statistician in election observation missions

Björn Tedeman

Election observer

THE FBA BLOG

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Posted by Marie Blomdahl
A safe online space to share experiences to support leadership in the UN

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When I joined the Leadership and Cooperation Unit at the Folke Bernadotte Academy in August 2018, after working many years mainly in the private sector, I had a feeling that this job really would offer me an opportunity to use my skills and experiences to make a difference, and at the same time grow as a professional. FBA was at the time already working actively with leadership development support for leaders in key functions within the ... Read entire post »
2021-06-03 10:54
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Posted by Rhodri Williams
Civil Society as a Critical Partner: Rule of Law and Accountability in the Liberian COVID-19 Response, Part II

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Part One of this post highlighted the importance of the rule of law in supporting crisis response in countries struggling with the effects of conflict. One of the most important rule of law principles in such settings is accountability, particularly “downward accountability”, in which state authorities focus on serving citizens dependent on them.

Corruption and poor governance can lead to excessive upward accountability directed toward political superiors, leaving a gap between the state and ordinary citizens. Civil ... Read entire post »

The post Civil Society as a Critical Partner: Rule of Law and Accountability in the Liberian COVID-19 Response, Part II first appeared on FBA-bloggen.
2021-02-15 13:43
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Posted by Kristin Valasek
Time for a joint vision on gender-responsive leadership

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Right before the winter break, 236 women and men from 105 different organizations and 46 countries around the world joined our International Dialogue on Gender-Responsive Leadership, to discuss an absolutely critical and often missing part of the gender equality puzzle: gender-responsive leadership.

After twenty years of struggling to achieve the commitments of the global women, peace and security agenda, we at the FBA have learned that executives and managers are essential to success. Not just as supporters, ... Read entire post »

The post Time for a joint vision on gender-responsive leadership first appeared on FBA-bloggen.
2021-02-10 16:09

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Margareta Wahlström

Geographic expertise

Topical expertise

Languages

Working for peace in the shadow of a frozen conflict

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Read our publications

The Gender-Responsive Leader's Handbook