Carin Jämtin (born 3 August 1964 in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

) is a Swedish

civil servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service offic ...

and former politician who has served as Governor of Västernorrland County since 1 September 2023. A member of the

Swedish Social Democratic Party The Swedish Social Democratic Party, formally the Swedish Social Democratic Workers' Party ( , S or SAP), usually referred to as The Social Democrats ( ), is a social democratic political party in Sweden. The party is member of the Progressiv ...

, she was Member of Parliament (MP) briefly in 2006 and from 2014 to 2017, representing

Stockholm Municipality Stockholm Municipality () or the City of Stockholm () is a municipality in Stockholm County in east central Sweden. It has the largest population of the 290 municipalities of the country, but one of the smallest areas, making it the second most ...

both times. She served as Minister for International Development Cooperation from 2003 to 2006 under

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Göran Persson Hans Göran Persson (; born 20 January 1949) is a Swedish politician who served as Prime Minister of Sweden from 1996 to 2006 and leader of the Swedish Social Democratic Party from 1996 to 2007. Persson was first elected to the Swedish Parliame ...

and was Secretary-General of the Swedish Social Democratic Party under

party leader In a governmental system, a party leader acts as the official representative of their political party, either to a legislature or to the electorate. Depending on the country, the individual colloquially referred to as the "leader" of a politica ...

Håkan Juholt Håkan Juholt (born 16 September 1962) is a Swedish politician who was Swedish Social Democratic Party, Leader of the Social Democrats from 2011 to 2012. He was List of members of the Swedish Riksdag, 2006-2010, member of the Parliament of Swede ...

and

Stefan Löfven Kjell Stefan Löfven (; officially Löfvén; born 21 July 1957) is a Swedish politician who has served as the President of European Socialists since October 2022. He previously served as Prime Minister of Sweden from October 2014 to November 20 ...

from 2011 to 2016. She was Director-General of the Swedish International Development Agency from 2017 to 2023.

Early life and education

Jämtin briefly studied at

Stockholm University Stockholm University (SU) () is a public university, public research university in Stockholm, Sweden, founded as a college in 1878, with university status since 1960. With over 33,000 students at four different faculties: law, humanities, social ...

, without obtaining any degree.

Political career

Jämtin began her political career in the

Swedish Social Democratic Youth League The Swedish Social Democratic Youth League ( ; SSU) is a branch of the Swedish Social Democratic Party and the Swedish Trade Union Confederation in Sweden. The president has been Lisa Nåbo, since August 2021. Organization The members form loc ...

, and was a board member of the organization from 1990 to 1992, thereafter serving as treasurer and acting secretary. Prior to her appointment in 2003, she worked as the Deputy Secretary General of the Olof Palme International Center. She was chair of the

National Council of Swedish Children and Youth Organisations The National Council of Swedish Children and Youth Organisations (Swedish: ''Landsrådet för Sveriges Ungdomsorganisationer'') is a major umbrella organization for Swedish children's and youth organizations. It has 83 member organizations. It was ...

(LSU) from 1993 to 1995.

Member of the Swedish Parliament

At the general election in September 2006, Jämtin was elected to the

Riksdag The Riksdag ( , ; also or , ) is the parliament and the parliamentary sovereignty, supreme decision-making body of the Kingdom of Sweden. Since 1971, the Riksdag has been a unicameral parliament with 349 members (), elected proportional rep ...

, i.e. member of parliament. Only a month later, in October 2006, she was elected

Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the Opposition (parliamentary), largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the ...

in the

City Council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough counc ...

of Stockholm."Jämtin ny s-ledare i Stockholm", Sveriges Radio Eko, 10 October 2006. She decided to keep her seat in parliament for at least two months, citing her desire to fight for proposals made by Social-Democrats from Stockholm. While Jämtin was one of the favourites to succeed

as leader of the

Social Democrats Social democracy is a social, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achieving social equality. In modern practice, s ...

at the party's congress in March 2007, her retention of the seat in parliament fuelled speculation that she might run for party leadership. It was generally considered that the next Social Democratic leader should be a member of parliament. On 23 November 2006, Sweden's biggest newspaper

Aftonbladet (, lit. "The evening paper") is a Swedish language, Swedish daily tabloid newspaper published in Stockholm, Sweden. It is one of the largest daily newspapers in the Nordic countries. History and profile The newspaper was founded by Lar ...

(independently social-democratic), endorsed Jämtin as party leader,"Välj Jämtin", Aftonbladet, 23 November 2006. but she declined running. On 16 August 2016, Jämtin announced her intention to resign as

party secretary In politics, a party secretary is a senior official within a political party with responsibility for the organizational and daily political work. In most parties, the party secretary is second in rank to the party leader (or party chairman). In s ...

in order to fulfill her position as

Member of the Riksdag Members of Parliament (Swedish language, Swedish: ''riksdagsledamöter'', singular: ''riksdagsledamot'') in Sweden sit in the Riksdag. Description ''Members of Parliament'' refers to the elected members of the Riksdag. In Swedish, an MP is us ...

Other activities

European Council on Foreign Relations The European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) is a pan-European think tank with offices in seven European capitals. Launched in October 2007, it conducts research on European foreign and security policy and provides a meeting space for decis ...

(ECFR), Member

Views on Israel-Palestine conflict

During a visit to

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

and the

West Bank The West Bank is located on the western bank of the Jordan River and is the larger of the two Palestinian territories (the other being the Gaza Strip) that make up the State of Palestine. A landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

in 2005 Jämtin called the wall between the two "Crazy and sick" and that she felt that a two state solution is impossible because of Israels actions, and that if Israel wants to build a wall it should do so in its own territory. The comments received a lot of commentary from media in Sweden. In September 2011, Jämtin along with Urban Ahlin voiced their support for a Swedish recognition of a Palestinian state.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jamtin, Carin 21st-century Swedish women politicians 1964 births Living people Ministers for international development cooperation of Sweden Women government ministers of Sweden Female foreign ministers Members of the Riksdag from the Social Democrats Women members of the Riksdag Politicians from Stockholm Stockholm University alumni Women diplomats for Sweden