Home » Stories » We will miss you

We will miss you

13-06-19
Bente Ilsøe
All your colleagues at Danida Fellowship Centre wish you all the best as a full-time granny and climate activist. Photo: Pernille Friis

Dear Bente,

This is our letter of appreciation to you in connection with your retirement in July 2019. It is almost impossible to imagine the management of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ support to development research and research capacity development without you amongst us, Bente. You have certainly played a major role in making the support to research successful for more than 25 years.

“A good time to call it the day”. Read more about Bente.

The retrospective study “Opportunities, challenges – and bad Weather” launched on 27 June 2019, is documenting the results of 30 years of Danish support to research capacity development but also telling the story of your efforts. You have supported the creation, selection, and management of North-South research partnerships, provided valuable advice and guidance, monitored progress, promoted communication of research results, facilitated knowledge exchange, and research networks, and much much more. All these efforts have been highly appreciated by development researchers all over the world – and certainly made a difference.

At Danida Fellowship Centre you have been the person with the institutional memory (…and the hard disk). Your work has been directed by changing Danish development research policies, strategies, and directions, ranging from the ENRECA programme to the support to individual PhDs, inception grants, FFU projects, support to international research institutions, pilot research projects, South- and North-driven projects, Window 1 and Window 2… And you have survived them all.

You have also been a highly valued colleague, not least during the last 11 years at Danida Fellowship Centre. We have truly appreciated your knowledge and competencies regarding the recipe for well-functioning research partnerships and the strengthening of research capacity. We have benefitted from your constructive input and ideas, sound judgement, and not least your (sometimes crass) humour. Fan of John Cleese, Monty Python, and Hell’s Grannies, Arne & Carlo’s knitting, Hans Rosling, Winnie the Pooh, and many more, – and you have made our days brighter by sharing funny video clips and citations, grandma stories, Odsherred news, sea temperatures, etc.

All your colleagues at Danida Fellowship Centre wish you all the best as a full-time granny and climate change activist.

We will miss you.

Pernille, Ida, Hanne, and Lars Arne

Go back to our stories