By Anna Ringstrom and Greta Rosen Fondahn
STOCKHOLM (Reuters) -Sweden’s government has nominated Jesper Brodin, a veteran executive at the world’s biggest furniture brand IKEA, to head the U.N. Refugee Agency UNHCR, saying on Tuesday he would bring valuable business acumen to the role at a time of funding challenges.
Current United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi is leaving the post at the end of the year as his term ends.
Brodin, a 56-year-old Swede who joined the budget furniture giant 30 years ago, is stepping down in November as CEO of Ingka Group, the owner of most IKEA stores worldwide, after seven years on the job.
“The U.N. system would be strengthened by a person with business experience, especially given the major challenges now facing the U.N.,” the Swedish government said in a statement.
“That’s why someone who knows how to keep hold of the purse strings and deliver efficient operations is needed,” it said.
Aid agencies have been rocked by funding cuts from major state donors, led by the U.S. and other Western powers that have prioritised spending on defence. As a result, many U.N. humanitarian agencies have increased their outreach to private sector donors in hopes of filling the gap.
Brodin said he had experience from IKEA of working in collaboration with the UNHCR in Syrian refugee camps in Jordan as well as following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“I would love to explore … how the corporate community could be a stronger link and partner, in the way that I’ve learned from the IKEA side so far,” he told Reuters.
The UNHCR, which plans to scale back its budget by nearly a fifth next year as funding cuts bite, did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
The 193-member U.N. General Assembly is due to elect a new high commissioner for refugees later this year.
A spokesperson for U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Brodin joined IKEA, which operates through a franchise system and which is owned by foundations, as purchase manager in Pakistan, and has also served as assistant to late founder Ingvar Kamprad.
(Reporting by Anna Ringstrom and Greta Rosen Fondahn Additional reporting by Emma Farge and Olivia Le Poidevin in Geneva and Michelle Nichols in New YorkEditing by Frances Kerry)
