Lena Hjelm-Wallén has over 20 years of experience working in the Swedish government. A member of the Social Democratic party, she has held several cabinet posts, including as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1994 to 1998.
Now she’s a member of the Raoul Wallenberg Institute’s Board of Trustees. We recently met with her to talk about politics, human rights, and South African oranges.
Human equality- and thus human rights and the significance of the rule of law- was a part of Hjelm-Wallén’s political ideology already during her high school years.
And her ideology turned concrete at an early age in the fight against the apartheid system in South Africa. “My mother was strict about us not buying South African oranges. That was our practical way of participating in the trade boycott before any sanctions were made,” she says.
She believes that when human rights are oppressed, it is our collective right to try to alleviate human vulnerability.
“My experience with aid policy has taught me that there will be no long-term economic and social development without a functioning rule of law and respect for human rights,” she says.
Though she believes many parts of the world are improving, there is one thing that concerns her today. “One phenomenon that worries me is the grave abuse of religion many different groups use to gain power. This problem is particularly difficult to deal with and require more of our attention. There are horrific human rights abuses being committed in the name of religion,” she says.
Hjelm-Wallén believes these issues can be tackled in a number of different ways.
“One can make efforts in this work as a human rights activist and such advocacy and practical action is really needed. But the Raoul Wallenberg Institute’s task is rather to operate by doing trainings and education supported by research, and not by preaching. There is a great need for knowledge to enable a positive development of the rule of law and create understanding and knowledge of human rights issues, and human rights in general. Here, I know that the RWI can make major contributions in the future,” Lena says.