The texts on this site have been auto-translated which may result in some linguistic errors.

Axel Selin, Niusha Khanmohammadi, Lotta Sylwander, Lena Martens Kalmelid, Rolf Carlman and Amna Handzic.

FUF's board

FUF's non-profit board is elected during the annual meeting, which is held in March each year. Are you interested in sitting on FUF's board, or do you know someone else who you think would be suitable for it? Then send another email Election Committee. Feel free to tell us:

  • How the person could contribute to FUF's development by sitting on the board
  • About interests and background connected to FUF's operations
  • If you can commit to actively participate in board work for at least one year

FUF welcomes all tips and nominations. We especially encourage people who contribute to the board in various ways diversity.

For the 2025/2026 financial year, FUF's board consists of the following people:

Lotta Sylwander (chairman)

As a young man, very involved in the solidarity movement. Among other things, I was involved in founding the Solidarity Movement House. Education as a social anthropologist. Fieldwork in Zambia in 1989. This was followed by a JPO position in Zimbabwe, a few years as a consultant and then Sida in South Africa 1996-99. Then there was a position at Sida in Stockholm, Head of the Africa Department and part of the Executive Management 2001-2006. During that time, I was also a board member of, among others, the Nordic Africa Institute. Between 2006-2021, I worked for UNICEF as head of the country offices in Zambia, Vietnam, the Philippines and Ukraine. A lot of experience from both development work and humanitarian work in Africa, Asia and Europe. Retired from the UN in 2021 and moved home and is now part-time at UNICEF Sweden as a spokesperson and expert.

Rolf Carlman (vice chairman)

Rolf has studied civil engineering with a specialization in mechanical engineering at KTH. He has also studied economics at Stockholm University. He has worked with development and aid issues since the mid-70s. First at the UN Regional Commission for West Asia, UNESCWA, followed by a research study in Yemen in 1978. In Swedish aid, Rolf has worked, among other things, as program manager and acting head of authority for the Board for Developing Countries Research, SAREC, and as head of department for the research cooperation departments, infrastructure and financial cooperation as well as operational management at Sida. The work has also included postings abroad as industrial officer at the embassy in Hanoi, chargé d'affaires in Laos, head of the Swedish Institute in Alexandria and in Jerusalem as head of aid to the West Bank and Gaza. Rolf has been a board member of the Medical Research Council, Swedfund, and the Swedish UNESCO Council. In addition to the board assignment in FUF, where Rolf was chairman 2013–2018, he is currently also a member of the board of Hand-in-Hand, Sweden.

Jonathan Eng

Jonathan Eng has worked in food and development issues through his time at the UN World Food Programme and the Stockholm Environment Institute where he worked with the SIANI and SweDev networks. Jonathan now works as a senior advisor in food policy at the Nordic Council of Ministers in Copenhagen, but maintains a global perspective by, among other things, contributing to the Nordic activities at the COP climate summits. Over the years, Jonathan has been active both as a student at FUF and FUF Lund, and he has also supervised interns from FUF's internship program. Jonathan has a master's degree in food policy and development issues from the Institute for Development Studies (IDS) at Sussex University and a bachelor's degree in political science from Lund University.

Amna Handzic

26 years old, from Skåne with a background from the former Yugoslavia. Living in Stockholm since 2022. I currently work at Sida's unit for operational and financial management. There I have primarily worked with the agency's annual report, but also work with operational management through operational planning and follow-up. Before that, I worked at the Swedish Institute for International Affairs where I worked on projects and analysis linked to various current world issues, but my focus was mainly on Europe's developing countries and their rapprochement with the EU. Before that, I took my master's degree from the University of Gothenburg in European Studies. During my studies, I completed a Schuman Traineeship at the European Parliament's Liaison Office in Stockholm, as well as an internship and summer position at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' unit for international development cooperation. I have also been involved in voluntary work, of course in FUF.

Christina Jamil

Kristina is the founder and president of Educated Girls for Excellence, a non-profit organization that offers free educational programs for women and girls in Arabic-speaking countries. For her involvement in women's issues, Kristina was awarded the international scholarship "Young Women in Public Affairs" by Zonta International. Her interest in women's rights from an international perspective was awakened in the meantime as an activist in Kvinna till Kvinna, where she was active for two and a half years. Kristina also holds the position of second vice-chairman of Sweden's Student Council, where she has previously also been board secretary. With an interest in global development issues and experience in journalism from Länstidningen Södertälje, Kristina has also practiced at Global Bar Magazine, which reports on aid issues. It was as study visit coordinator at FUF-Stockholm Södra that she became active within FUF. As study visit coordinator, she has organized visits to embassies, authorities and organisations. She is now part of the FUF board's Thematic Working Group. Kristina is currently in her second year at Campus Viktor Rydberg's high school, where she studies Social Behaviour.

Niusha Khanmohammadi

Niusha Khanmohammadi is a political scientist with extensive international experience in gender equality, culture and sustainable development in Europe, Central Asia and the Middle East. She has a master's degree in human rights from Uppsala University and has worked with the UN, EU and Swedish authorities in twelve countries, focusing on women, peace and security and policy development. Niusha has also been involved in the Swedish Women's Organisation and other civil society organisations, where she has worked to strengthen young women's rights globally. In addition to her work in international development, Niusha is active as an artist and writer, where her work often explores themes of identity, migration and cultural encounters. She has been involved in FUF for ten years in various ways, including as a writer and mentor, and looks forward to contributing her experiences and perspectives to the board to promote inclusive and sustainable global development.

Lena Martens Kalmelid

Lena has worked with aid in the field, for We Effect and Vi-Skogen in southern and eastern Africa, and earlier, in the late nineties, for the Africa groups in Mozambique. She has also sat on the board of the Africa Groups, between 2000 and 2011, and for the last three years she was chairman. Now she is doing a second stay on the same board. She came back to Sweden in 2020, and then started working for the Nature Conservation Association, not within the international program but with local involvement in Sweden.

Camilla Mohabat

Camilla is a communicator with expertise in communication for social change, with a particular focus on health issues. She has previously worked at the UN in Copenhagen, Tanzania and Egypt and at a communications agency in London where she worked with communications and brand strategy for philanthropic foundations. Currently, she is the Director of Communications at D-tree, an organization working in digital health in Southern Africa, based in Lusaka, Zambia. Camilla loves stories, telling and hearing them, and strongly believes in storytelling as a form of change work.

Axel Selin

Axel has a master's degree in development studies from Lund University. He has a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of Amsterdam, where he was also involved in projects for green transition. Axel has a strong commitment to human rights, gender equality and climate policy. He joined FUF first as part of the Almedal editorial team, and then as an intern where he primarily contributed to the work on FUF's previous project, The Global Peace Hub. He currently works at the office where he completed FUF's EU project and is now events manager.

Lennart Wohlgemuth

Lennart was most recently visiting professor in African Studies with a special focus on Swedish and European aid policy at the School of Global Studies, University of Gothenburg. Lennart has previously worked as director of the Nordic Africa Institute in Uppsala from 1993 to 2005 and for 28 years at Sida, seven years as head of the sector department and seven years as head of the education office. Lennart is also chairman of the European movement.

Supporters

Through their supportership the organizations below contribute
to independent debate and public education on sustainable global development