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Boss terminated at ‘Save the Children’

Pia Marsh
June 17th, 2015


This article is more than 9 years old.

Save the Children looking for a replacement for Mimi Jakobsen, who will cease employment with immediate effect

Jakobsen’s successor must work on strengthening the company’s economic foundation (photo: WestportWiki)

After 15 years in office, Mimi Jakobsen has been fired from her position as secretary general of international organisation Save the Children.

“We have made the decision that now is the right time to find a replacement,” Lars Svenning Andersen, the president of Save the Children’s executive committee, told TV2.

“You can call it a resignation,” he added.

According to Andersen, Jakobsen, who will leave her position with immediate effect, does not agree with the main board’s decision.

“Not an easy decision”
Andersen asserts that it was not an easy decision to dismiss the secretary general.

“Mimi Jakobsen has done a great job at Save the Children in the 15 years she has been here,” he said.

“In Mimi’s time, Save the Children has grown in both size and reputation, and today we can help many more disadvantaged children in Denmark and abroad.”

One of the reasons for Jakobsen’s exit from the company is that her term on the international board expires this year, and it has constantly been on the cards that her position as secretary general will be discussed.

New leader for a new era
The board at Save the Children are currently searching for a new member to lead the organisation into a new era.

According to Andersen, the process of finding a replacement begins immediately, and it is expected that the new secretary general will have joined by the beginning of 2016.

One of the new secretary general’s tasks will be to strengthen the company’s economic standing.

“Save the Children’s turnover has grown significantly in recent years, reaching 450 million kroner in 2015.”

“However, if we are to continue to grow and help more children, we need a greater financial solidity. We have had this goal for several years, but it has not yet been achieved.”

Call for a stronger economic foundation
Hence, Jakobsen’s successor must possess an even sharper focus on strengthening Save the Children’s economic foundation, Andersen said.

Deputy secretary Jonas Keiding Lindholm will be appointed secretary general until Jakobsen’s successor is found.


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Moreover, 21 percent of those surveyed admitted to medicating their kids with paracetamol, such as Panodil, before sending them to school.

The FOLA parents’ organisation is shocked by the findings.

“I think it is absolutely crazy. It simply cannot be that a child goes to school sick and plays with lots of other children. Then we are faced with the fact that they will infect the whole institution,” said FOLA chair Signe Nielsen.

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At the Børnehuset daycare institution in Silkeborg a meeting was called where parents were implored not to bring their sick children to school.

At Børnehuset there are fears that parents prefer to pack their kids off with a pill without informing teachers.

“We occasionally have children who that they have had a pill for breakfast,” said headteacher Susanne Bødker. “You might think that it is a Panodil more than a vitamin pill, if it is a child who has just been sick, for example.”

Parents sick and tired
Parents, when confronted, often cite pressure at work as a reason for not being able to stay at home with their children.

Many declare that they simply cannot take another day off, as they are afraid of being fired.

Allan Randrup Thomsen, a professor of virology at KU, has heavily criticised the parents’ actions, describing the current situation as a “vicious circle”.

“It promotes the spread of viruses, and it adds momentum to a cycle where parents are pressured by high levels of sick-leave. If they then choose to send the children to daycare while they are still recovering, they keep the epidemic going in daycares, and this in turn puts a greater burden on the parents.”