IN MEMORIAM
Bjorn Ljungqvist, Former UNICEF
Representative, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Dear colleagues,
It is with sorrow that I inform you that our former UNICEF colleague, Bjorn Ljungqvist, left us on 21 July 2020 at his home in Sweden.
A national of Sweden, Bjorn joined UNICEF Tanzania in 1983 having worked with the Tanzania Food and Nutrition Centre since 1977.
His work in Tanzania and the wider dialogue across the East and Southern Africa region led to the development of what became UNICEF’s global nutrition strategy. Central to the strategy was the coupling of a simple conceptual framework tied to an operational “assessment, analysis, action, re-assessment schema. It was approved by the UNICEF Executive Board in 1990.
From Tanzania Bjorn moved to Uganda in 1992 as Sr Programme Officer; Phnom Penh, Cambodia in 1994 as Representative; Bangkok, in 1996 as Deputy Regional Director; Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania in 1998 as Representative; Addis Ababa, and Ethiopia in 2003 as Representative retiring in 2010. Throughout this time Bjorn championed UNICEF’s nutrition strategy and was a key resource driving its evolution into the human rights approach to programming and now the results-based programming guidance that is the foundation of UNICEF programme guidance today.
On leaving UNICEF Bjorn accepted to a leadership role for the joint UN agency nutrition collaborating mechanism, REACH, where he contributed to defining and rolling out the global SUN movement. After leaving REACH in 2012 Bjorn took on short-term assignments focused on nutrition policy, programming and evaluations in over 20 different countries focusing on ‘linking relief and rehabilitation to development.
Applying a human rights approach to people management as well as programmes Bjorn was dearly loved by many colleagues who admired his joie de vivre coupled with a hard driving approach to delivering quick results in humanitarian situations (he was a champion of the health extension worker strategy that spread across Ethiopia early in the millennium to great acclaim) and putting in place capacity building programmes with longer time frame results.
Bjorn leaves his wife Pille, son Oskar, three daughters Ida, Karin (Gabriella) and Annie, and several grandchildren. Colleagues wishing to send condolences to the family may do so through his son at Oskarljungqvist@gmail.com or +393473822082.
Please join me in sending condolences to Bjorn’s family.
Kind regards,
Noma Owens-Ibie,
GSA Chairperson
A national of Sweden, Bjorn joined UNICEF Tanzania in 1983 having worked with the Tanzania Food and Nutrition Centre since 1977.
His work in Tanzania and the wider dialogue across the East and Southern Africa region led to the development of what became UNICEF’s global nutrition strategy. Central to the strategy was the coupling of a simple conceptual framework tied to an operational “assessment, analysis, action, re-assessment schema. It was approved by the UNICEF Executive Board in 1990.
From Tanzania Bjorn moved to Uganda in 1992 as Sr Programme Officer; Phnom Penh, Cambodia in 1994 as Representative; Bangkok, in 1996 as Deputy Regional Director; Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania in 1998 as Representative; Addis Ababa, and Ethiopia in 2003 as Representative retiring in 2010. Throughout this time Bjorn championed UNICEF’s nutrition strategy and was a key resource driving its evolution into the human rights approach to programming and now the results-based programming guidance that is the foundation of UNICEF programme guidance today.
On leaving UNICEF Bjorn accepted to a leadership role for the joint UN agency nutrition collaborating mechanism, REACH, where he contributed to defining and rolling out the global SUN movement. After leaving REACH in 2012 Bjorn took on short-term assignments focused on nutrition policy, programming and evaluations in over 20 different countries focusing on ‘linking relief and rehabilitation to development.
Applying a human rights approach to people management as well as programmes Bjorn was dearly loved by many colleagues who admired his joie de vivre coupled with a hard driving approach to delivering quick results in humanitarian situations (he was a champion of the health extension worker strategy that spread across Ethiopia early in the millennium to great acclaim) and putting in place capacity building programmes with longer time frame results.
Bjorn leaves his wife Pille, son Oskar, three daughters Ida, Karin (Gabriella) and Annie, and several grandchildren. Colleagues wishing to send condolences to the family may do so through his son at Oskarljungqvist@gmail.com or +393473822082.
Please join me in sending condolences to Bjorn’s family.
Kind regards,
Noma Owens-Ibie,
GSA Chairperson
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