I was born in a remote rural region of Denmark in 1948 on a farm 150 km north of the German border on the west coast of Denmark. My place of birth was characterized by 'geographic and cultural barriers towards higher education'. I was lucky enough to be admitted to a grammar school with boarding facilities. I discovered very early in life that ‘justice’ did not come by itself or by prayers. At Sunday school I had been told that we were all equal before the Lord. But I saw early that some families were more equal than others and automatically got a better deal than others less fortunate. I never gave up believing in a just society, where the equality of its members is the premise for action. When it was time to be drafted for military service, I practiced my freedom to rebel against what I saw as serving inhumane objectives. I became a conscientious objector. Later in life I came to learn that justice often evaded a definition and that it was much easier to see when injustice was done.

After grammar school I studied social psychology and philosophy at the University of Copenhagen, where I obtained a doctorate. Apart from three years as a research librarian, I ended up working for the Danish International Development Assistance Programme and eventually for the United Nations. All together I spent more than 30 years trying to make an impact on the development of the world for the betterment of mankind. I had entered the service of the UN in the belief that this prestigious institution served to create equality and justice among peoples of the world; however, I ended up rather frustrated. With time I came to see that many of the noble words stressing equality and freedom essentially served to conceal injustices done with a view to control and dominate markets and ultimately the world system.

It is too simple to explain my generation with reference to the events of the 1960s. It is true that I entered university in the autumn of 1968, the year when an attempt was made to assassinate Rudi Dutschke, a student leader, in Berlin. Anti-American sentiments were being fed by the ongoing Vietnam War. In retrospect, 1970 became an important year for my position in subsequent world events. For most of 1969 and 1970, I spent in the USA, where I experienced the shock of the killings of students at Kent State University by the National Guard in May 1970. Earlier on I had passionately followed Bertrand Russell and Jean-Paul Sartre's War Crimes Tribunal in Stockholm. Russell's political writings and that of Danish journalist Torben Krogh, author of The American Threat, sensitized me to the dangers coming from the USA to the freedom of the entire world.

With an academic background (Ph.D.) from the Department of Education at the University of Copenhagen, I worked in key social sectors essential for human welfare, including health, nutrition, education, water and sanitation, agricultural extension, and slum upgrading. Within these sectors, I am particularly competent in the assessment of the capacities of organizations and in developing improved structures for more efficient and effective delivery of sustainable social services.

Over a period of more than 25 years of experience in the management of problems and issues related to planning, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of development programs, I have proven myself a skilful advocate of the policies of those organizations. I have also represented them while effectively adapting them to national policies in low-income countries in Africa and Asia, thus leading to concrete results for improved living conditions for the most impoverished families and their children.

I am a competent planner and have been responsible for the preparation of UNICEF Country Situation Analyses and subsequent development of five-year programs of development cooperation in several West and Central African countries. I began my African tour in Tanzania, where he was employed as a researcher to develop community-based water and sanitation programs, implemented by the Danish International Development Agency.

As team leader of Danida’s technical missions for project appraisals and reviews, and later as head of UNICEF’s country offices, I proved myself a competent negotiator. During my most recent experiences as UNICEF’s Area Representative for three countries in Central Africa, I provided leadership and technical support to good governance to enable governments to implement recommendations by the Human Rights Commission on Child Rights.

I have worked in Bangladesh, India, Nigeria, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Gabon, Sao Tomé and Principé, and Equatorial Guinea. He speaks English, French, and Portuguese, besides his mother tongue – Danish. I read and understand Swahili and Spanish. Throughout my career, I emphasised community-based participatory approaches as an essential component for the promotion of good governance and the achievement of sustainable results.

As acting resident coordinator, I successfully laid the foundation for integrated and joint programming with other UN agencies in close cooperation with bilateral partners in Gabon.

After I retired from the UN, I founded a healthcare agency in Senegal. Here I oversee the provision of nursing services at the residences of individuals who have lost their autonomy.

I am married with four children.