Birgitte Bischoff Ebbesen

Ms Birgitte Bischoff Ebbesen is the IFRC regional director for Europe covering 53 national societies in Europe and Central Asia. The regional director is based in Budapest and responsible for implementing the IFRC mandated functions: Strategic and Operational Coordination; National Society Development and Humanitarian Diplomacy to support member National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies in the region. The regional director has more than 15 years’ experience working with the Danish Red Cross, where she headed the disaster management department and worked as Regional Head of Asia Region.

Since 2014, she was the international director of Danish Red Cross and co-chair of the IFRC Reference Centre for Psychosocial Support. Ms Ebbesen worked for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees office on community services, disaster management we well as fundraising and external relations. She also ran repatriation programmes for the Danish Refugee Council in NW Somalia, Guatemala and Sri Lanka.

Ms Ebbesen is from Denmark. She holds a Master’s degree in Public Administration from Roskilde University in Denmark as well as a diploma in High- Performance Leadership from the Copenhagen Business School.