Cecilia Uddén

Cecilia Uddén (born 28 October 1960) is a Swedish journalist, radio host and foreign reporter for Sveriges Radio. Uddén has worked as a radio foreign correspondent to the Middle East since 1993.

Early life

Cecilia Uddén was born in Hägersten, Stockholm, the oldest daughter of Per Olov Edvin Uddén and Sigrid Chatarina Öhlén-Johannsen. During her childhood, her family also spent time in Cairo, Egypt and Bangkok, Thailand. Uddén attended Norra Latins Gymnasium in Stockholm and studied philosophy at Stockholm University. She also studied journalism at Skurups folkhögskola in Skurup, Sweden. Uddén has two children with ex-husband Otto Manheimer, a cultural journalist and translator. She is now in a relationship with artist Elisabeth Ohlson.

Career

In 1988, Uddén started working in Sveriges Radio's culture department. Between 1993 and 1998, she was a foreign correspondent to the Middle East and was based in Cairo and Jerusalem. Between 1998 and 2003, she was the foreign correspondent to Washington for Sveriges Radio. In 2004, she began to host the radio show Konflikt which was broadcast between 2004 and 2005. She worked as a foreign correspondent based in Amman from 2006 and 2011.

After the Syrian authorities withdrew permission for her to work as a journalist, stating that she had conveyed "false information", Uddén left Syria in December 2016. SR rejected the claims made against Uddén.

Criticism

During the 2004 American presidential election, Uddén was criticised for making an evaluative statement about one of the candidates on Sveriges Radio. The comment was seen as a breach of impartiality, leading to the suspension of Uddén from election coverage.