Editing Alva Myrdal (section)

=== Postwar career takeoff ===
A long-time prominent member of the [[Swedish Social Democratic Party]], in the late 1940s she became involved in international issues with the United Nations, appointed to head its section on welfare policy in 1949. From 1950 to 1955 she was chairman of [[UNESCO]]'s social science section—the first woman to hold such prominent positions in the UN. In 1955–1956, she served as a Swedish envoy to New Delhi, India, [[Yangon]], Myanmar and [[Colombo]], Sri Lanka.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Biografie Alva Myrdal|work=50 Klassiker der Soziologie, Universitat Graz|access-date=22 November 2013|url=http://agso.uni-graz.at/lexikon/klassiker/myrdal/36bio.htm|archive-date=7 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190507193100/http://agso.uni-graz.at/lexikon/klassiker/myrdal/36bio.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref>

From 1951 she had collaborated with British-based sociologist [[Viola Klein]] and in 1958 they co-wrote the book ''Women's Two Roles: Home and Work'', supported by the International Federation of University Women "to make an international survey of the needs for social reforms if women are to be put into a position to reconcile family and professional life".<ref>p. IX.</ref>

In 1962, Myrdal was elected to the [[Riksdag]], and in 1962 she was sent as the Swedish delegate to the [[Eighteen Nation Committee on Disarmament|UN disarmament conference]] in [[Geneva]], a role she kept until 1973. During the negotiations in Geneva, she played an extremely active role, emerging as the leader of the group of [[Non-Aligned Movement|nonaligned]] nations which endeavored to bring pressure to bear on the two superpowers (US and USSR, respectively) to show greater concern for concrete [[disarmament]] measures. Her experiences from the years spent in Geneva found an outlet in her book "The game of disarmament", in which she expresses her disappointment at the reluctance of the US and the [[Soviet Union|USSR]] to disarm.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1982/myrdal-bio.html|title=Nobel Prize Biographical – Alva Myrdal}}</ref>

Myrdal participated in the creation of the [[Stockholm International Peace Research Institute]], becoming the first chairman of the governing board in 1966. In 1967 she was also named consultative Cabinet minister for disarmament, an office she held until 1973. Myrdal also wrote the acclaimed book ''The Game of Disarmament,'' originally published in 1976. A vocal supporter of disarmament, Myrdal received the [[Nobel Peace Prize]] in 1982 together with [[Alfonso García Robles]]. In 1983 Myrdal effectively ended the heated controversy over the future of [[Adolf Fredrik's Music School]], "The AF-fight" (Swedish: AF-striden).<ref>{{cite thesis |type=B.A. |url=http://epubl.ltu.se/1402-1773/2006/194/LTU-CUPP-06194-SE.pdf |first=Elisabeth |last=Lutteman |title=Musikklass – ett pedagogiskt spänningsfält |publisher=[[Luleå University of Technology]] |pages=7–8 |year=2006 |issn=1402-1773 |access-date=14 December 2014 |language=sv}}</ref>

Myrdal promoted reforms in child care and later became a government commission on women's work and chair of the Federation of Business and Professional Women.<ref>Myrdal, Alva. (2016). In Helicon (Ed.), ''The Hutchinson unabridged encyclopedia with atlas and weather guide''. Abington, UK: Helicon. Retrieved from http://cordproxy.mnpals.net/login?url=https://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/heliconhe/myrdal_alva/0?institutionId=4015</ref>