Welcome to the Delegation of Sweden to the OECD and UNESCO in Paris.
Like all member countries, the Swedish government maintains a permanent delegation to the OECD and UNESCO. The delegation is composed of three officials from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, one from the Ministry of Education and Research and eight employees are locally employed. The head of delegation since August 2023 is Ambassador Helena Sångeland.
Ambassador Helena Sångeland's CV
OECD
The ambassador represents Sweden in the OECD Council, which is the highest decision-making body.
Every year, about 1600 delegates from Government Offices and other government authorities in Sweden attend meetings within the approximately 250 committees and working groups of the OECD. The delegation’s mission is to represent Sweden in the committees and working groups, to report back on the development and assist the Swedish Government and Swedish delegates visiting OECD in preparing Swedish positions.
The delegation’s responsibilities also include the three independent organisations within the OECD – IEA (International Energy Agency), NEA (Nuclear Energy Agency) and International Transport Forum (former ECMT, the European Conference of Ministers of Transport).
Read about the OECD on the Organisation's website
UNESCO
The General Conference is the highest decision-making organ of the UNESCO and it meets every two years. The Executive Board of UNESCO meets twice a year.
Swedish positions and Swedish participation in the General Conference are being prepared by the Swedish National Commission for UNESCO. The Delegation is also actively involved in this work.
The Delegation also follows the work in different committees and working groups and participates in the information meetings that are being arranged by the different programme sectors.
The Delegation's work is based on instructions from the Government Offices, and the Delegation also has a close co-operation with other authorities in Sweden, primarily the National Commission for UNESCO and SIDA (the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency).
The Delegation also organizes visits at the UNESCO and informs about the organization.
Read about UNESCO at the Organisation's website
