Marika Fahlén

Ambassador Marika Fahlén has 40 years of experience of international affairs both from government service, the UN at Headquarter and Field levels and civil society.

She has been a Board member of a number of Swedish and international organisations involved in peace and security, humanitarian affairs and Human Rights. At the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs she has among others served as Ambassador for Humanitarian Affairs and Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa.

She has been closely associated with the peace and mediation processes in Somalia and Sudan, for example regarding Darfur and the Comprehensive Peace Agreement running up to the independence of South Sudan.

Fahlén has held several senior positions in international organizations such as UNHCR, UNAIDS and UNDP. Her board functions include serving as the Chair of CERF (The UN Central Emergency response Fund), the OECD/DAC Task Force on Conflict, Peace and Development Cooperation, and the Somali Think Tank Heritage Institute for Policy Studies. She has also served in the board of the International Crisis Group and the International HIV/AIDS Alliance/Frontline AIDS.

She was a Senior Advisor in peacebuilding to the Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation and worked with the Raoul Wallenberg Institute and other NGOs in Sweden. Her profile is regional and global peace-making, peacebuilding and prevention, women peace and security, human rights and humanitarian affairs.

Geographic expertise

Africa (Horn of Africa)

Topical expertise

Global patterns of violent conflict and state fragility

Languages

Swedish
English
French

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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Marika Fahlén

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