Personal Details

Education

MBA, Stockholm School of Economics, 1971
Swedish High School Diploma, 1967
American High School Diploma, 1965

Professional Career

• April 2001-present: President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Rome , Italy - a specialized agency of the United Nations. Elected President of IFAD in February 2001 by the Funds Governing Council.

• 2006: High-level Panel on System-wide Coherence - appointed by the United Nations Secretary-General as a member of the High-level Panel on System-wide Coherence
• January 2003-present: Chairman of the United Nations High-Level Committee on Programmes (HLCP) - designated by the Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi Annan.
• 1996-March 2001: Head of the Department for International Development Cooperation, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Sweden. Reporting directly to the Minister and State Secretary for International Development Cooperation. Responsibilities included preparing the annual development cooperation budget (USD 1.6 billion) for Parliament; developing and coordinating development cooperation policy and providing directives to the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA); coordinating development activities with the European Union and the World Bank, regional development banks, IFAD, the Development Assistance Committee of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the Secretariats for the Expert Group on Development Issues and the Swedish development financing project.

• 1994-96: Roving Ambassador, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (based in Zimbabwe ). In charge of international negotiations, notably: International Development Association (IDA) Deputy for the IDA 11 replenishment negotiations; Chairman of the Governing Council of IFAD; Co-Chairman of the Special Committee on IFADs Resource Requirements and Related Governance Issues. 1994-95: representative of Sweden , Finland and Estonia in the Council of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and Chairman of the GEF Council. Governor for Sweden and Vice-Chairman of the African Capacity-Building Foundation; Swedish representative in the UNICEF Advisory Council on Research and in the negotiations leading to the establishment of the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance.

• 1990-94: Assistant Under-Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Head of the Multilateral Division, reporting directly to the political level. Responsible for Swedish development assistance channelled through international financial institutions and the United Nations. In charge of the Nordic UN project to improve the governance and funding of the UN system in the development arena.

• 1989-90: Secretary to the Parliamentary Commission on Swedish Bilateral Development Assistance. Headed the Secretariats analytical work on Swedish aid administration and planned the commissions study trips to Asia , Latin America , North America and Europe . The work of the commission led to a reorganization of aid administration.

• 1980-89: Director of Planning and Administration, Swedish Agency for Research Cooperation with Developing Countries (SAREC). Responsible for developing the agency in terms of policy, programming, personnel, budget and management. The agency promoted research of relevance to developing countries and channelled funds to capacity-building in the natural and social sciences, including the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). Member of the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA) internal management board.

• 1974-80: Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 1974-76: trainee programme; 1976-77: assistant to the State Secretary for Foreign Affairs; 1977-80: Desk Officer for development cooperation policy issues, including agricultural research policy, and representative at the annual meeting of CGIAR.

• 1971-73: Management consultant .

Key Experience

• 10 years of active involvement as Alternate Governor of IFAD prior to becoming President of IFAD, with a focus on:
  - policy development
  - institutional development
  - resource mobilization
• 25 years of international development cooperation work with a focus on:
  - poverty reduction
  - rural development and popular participation
  - capacity-building
  - economic and social reform
  - gender issues
  - environmental issues
  - science and technology
• 17 years as head of department or division, exerting leadership and with responsibility for, inter alia:
  - policy and programme development
  - management oversight, including administration, budget and personnel
  - organization of international meetings, conferences and seminars
  - links with the research community
  - serving the Executive Board of SAREC as Secretary (nine years)
  - contacts with Parliament and its Foreign Relations Committee
  - contacts with civil society
  - cooperation with and funding of international organizations
• International chairmanships and governorships:
  - Chairman - High-Level Committee on Programmes (HLCP), 2002-present
  - Chairman of the Governing Council of IFAD, 1994-96
  - Co-Chairman of the Special Committee on IFADs Resource Requirements and
  Related Governance Issues, 1994-95
  - Vice-Chairman of the OECD Development Assistance Committee, 1998 to 2001
  - First elected Chairman from a donor constituency of the GEF Council
  - Vice-Chairman of the African Capacity-Building Foundation, 1994 to 2001
  - Chairman of the Nominations Committee of the African Capacity-Building
  Foundation, 1998 to date
  - Alternate Governor for Sweden of the Asian Development Bank; of the
  Inter-American Development Bank; of IFAD, 1990-2000; and of the Nordic
  Environment Financing Cooperation
• Representative of Sweden in international resource-mobilization negotiations :
  - IDA Deputy for IDA 10, 11 and 12, 1990 to 2001
  - IFAD IV, V and VI, 1990 to date
  - African Capacity-Building Foundation, 1994 to 2001
  - Original funding and first replenishment negotiation of GEF, 1990-96

 

 

Language versions of Lennart Båge's curriculum Vitae Arabic version French version Spanish version Speeches and statements by Lennart Båge Statements delivered to IFAD Governing Bodies Articles and interviews Statements delivered at international conferences and meetings