The Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) is responsible for implementing Sweden’s development policy. As a government agency under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), it operates within the framework laid down by the Swedish parliament and government which specify the annual budget and focus of Swedish development aid. SIDA develops policy according to the following five mutually dependent and broad strategic policy areas:

• Democracy, Human Rights and Gender Equality
• Economic Opportunities
• Knowledge, Health and Social Development
• Environmentally Sustainable Development
• Peace and Security

The objective of Swedish development cooperation is to help create conditions that will enable poor people to improve their lives, and contribute to equitable and sustainable global development. According to Sweden’s development policy, three areas are particularly important for equitable and sustainable development: democracy and human rights, gender equality and the role of women in development, and climate and environment.

Since the passing of the law ‘Shared  Responsibility: Sweden’s Policy for Global Development’ in 2003, all  Swedish  policy  areas  are bound  to  contribute  to global  poverty  reduction  and  the  realisation  of  the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). This makes Sweden the first country to establish a coherent policy integrating all policy areas of the government to achieve stainable global development.

Sweden’s policy for global development is dominated by a ‘bottom-up’ approach and a rights-based perspective. Consequently, it aims to define its development priorities solely based  on  the  needs  of  poor  populations.  With the objective to foster an environment where governments of developing countries take greater responsibility of their own development and fight against poverty, and where poor people are supported to improve the quality of life.  

Sweden’s  international  ambitions  with  regard  to development   cooperation   and   poverty   reduction are  reflected  in  the  large  share  of  its  gross  national income  (GNI)  that  is  spent  on  development  aid.  For years,   Sweden   has   surpassed   the   United   Nations (UN) goal of 0.7%. In 2009, Sweden spent 1.12% of its GNI on development aid. In 2010 Sweden’s development aid budget totalled SEK 31.4 billion (€3.14 billion), whereas about SEK 16 billion (€1.6 billion) of this is allocated to SIDA. The remainder principally goes through the MFA.

Since 2007, the Swedish development cooperation has, in line with the Paris Declaration (2005), worked with a reduced number of partner countries, in order to make the cooperation more effective by concentrating more of its resources in a fewer number of countries. This country-focused approach has resulted in a stronger emphasis on Africa, because it has the greatest need of support for poverty reduction, is furthest away from achieving the MDGs, and is the continent most affected by conflicts, HIV/AIDS and the risk of starvation.

Sweden’s new development policy is also aiming to reduce poverty and promote democracy in former Soviet states for a stable Europe. Other areas of special attention are peace and security and democracy and human rights, which means that Sweden has a strong donor presence in conflict and post-conflict areas, as well as in countries with a serious democratic deficit. Sweden’s bilateral development cooperation focuses on just over 30 partner countries.

Usually countries’ own poverty reduction strategies are taken as the underlying framework for Sweden’s bilateral development initiatives. It aims to make its cooperation  more  demand-driven,  with  decisions on  priorities  and  actions  more  frequently  taken  by the  recipient  countries themselves. SIDA’s contribution is   therefore seen as supplementary to the developing countries’ own poverty reduction efforts.

The Swedish government has strong relations with a range of multilateral organisations such as the UN, the World Bank, the IMF, and regional development banks. In 2008, Sweden spent 12.7 billion SEK (€1,318 billion) on multilateral ODA, of which 5 million SEK (€519 million) went to the UN system; 3 million SEK (€315 million) went to the EU’s development programmes and 2.6 million SEK (€271 million) to the Word Bank.

Sweden is one of the most vocal supporters of the ICPD agenda and the implementation of the Cairo Plan of Action. A special emphasis is placed on the goal of universal access to reproductive health education and services. Two  important  features  of Sweden’s  SRHR  policy  are that SIDA works to improve the choices  available  to  women  and  girls  to obtain free, safe and accessible abortions and that it aims  to  strengthen  the  perspective  of  homosexual, bisexual and transsexual persons. Moreover, SIDA is supporting efforts in the area of maternal mortality, female genital mutilation (FGM), fistula, and care for AIDS orphans. SIDA is also supporting a range of international SRHR NGOs such as IPPF and IPAS.

HIV/AIDS is another strategic priority for Sweden’s development cooperation. Ever since 1999, an HIV/AIDS strategy ‘Investing   for   Future   Generations’ has aimed to mainstream   HIV/AIDS in all policy sectors as well as in international organisations. Sweden’s approach to fight the pandemic focuses on prevention, care and treatment, emphasising the close link between HIV/AIDS and SRHR. Especially in Africa, SIDA aims to enhance reproductive rights, access to contraception and gender equality as a strategy to halt the disease from spreading.

Since 2001 SIDA and the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs have collaborated to contribute to poverty alleviation by strengthening regional organisations and embassies in relation to prevention and impact mitigation of HIV/AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Swedish civil society organisations have participated as important actors ever since Sweden started its bilateral development programmes. Historically, Sweden has always had a strong popular movement, and thus the formulation of Sweden’s development policy has been influenced by all parts of civil society. From the mid-1970s, SIDA funds allocated to NGOs increased for the first time to above 1% of the total budget. Since the 1980s, budget support for NGOs has comprised about 10% of SIDA’s total.

The objective of Swedish civil society cooperation is to contribute to the overall goal of poverty reduction and to promote the development of a vibrant and democratic civil society in developing countries. SIDA’s cooperation with NGOs centres on a number of umbrella organisations e.g. Forum Syd,¹ designed to give NGOs greater freedom in the planning and implementation of their activities and to provide an opportunity for the reallocation of resources.

With this umbrella system, SIDA aims to achieve:

• High-quality development cooperation in support of civil society in the South and North
• A broad interface with Swedish organisations and their partners
• A platform for shaping public opinion in Sweden
• A structured dialogue on methods and policy issues with Swedish NGOs
• A rational and effective way of administering civil society support

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¹ Contact information can be found in the NGO Platform Contact Information section of this Guide.

Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA)

Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs

SIDA: Summary Statement of SIDA’s Budget 2010.

SIDA: Summary Statement of SIDA’s Policy 2009.

OECD net-ODA in 2009

SIDA Evaluation 2009:02: Evaluation for the Swedish-Norwegian Regional HIV/AIDS team in Africa.

Swedish ODA 2008.

SIDA: A force for change. Supporting cooperation between civil society organisations (2006).

SIDA: Investing for Future Generations – Sweden’s International Response to HIV/AIDS (1999).

UNFPA/UNAIDS/NIDI: Projections of Funds for Population and AIDS Activities, 2004-2006.