The new year begins on a high note with Mrs. Anna Tibaijuka, the Executive Director, welcoming Ms. Inga Björk-Klevby, the new Deputy Executive Director to UN-HABITAT.
“I am delighted to welcome Ms. Bjork-Klevby to UN-HABITAT. With her distinguished diplomatic and professional career and her commitment to international development, Mrs. Bjork-Klevby will make an important contribution to the success of this organization and the worldwide implementation of the Habitat Agenda,” said Mrs. Tibaijuka. “I particularly look forward to working with her to revitalize and oversee the management of the Habitat and Human Settlements Foundation so that it can contribute effectively to the Millennium Development Goals.” Ms. Björk-Klevby, who is from Sweden, was appointed by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan last October while serving as her country’s ambassador to Côte d'Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. Previously she has been in charge of Sweden's international development cooperation policies, programmes and budget for years and worked for more than two decades in international finance at the Central Bank of Sweden, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank and the African Development Bank. “I am very happy to be back in Kenya to work with UN-HABITAT. I look forward to meeting everybody and to working with the Executive Director and the highly competent and dedicated staff to strengthen the organization and the Habitat Foundation. My experience as Ambassador in so many countries in Africa has convinced me of the urgent need to find the necessary resources to address the problems of human settlements in the continent and other developing countries.” Prior to her current assignment, Ms. Björk-Klevby served as the Ambassador of Sweden to Kenya, Burundi, Rwanda, Seychelles and the Comoros and as Permanent Representative to the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the UN Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT). During this period, she was involved in restructuring the UN Centre for Human Settlements, leading to its current upgraded status as a Programme. She holds a master's degree from the Stockholm School of Economics and is married with two children. Biographical Note
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