Development Sweden #10. Jakob Granit was appointed as the new Director General for Sida
A newsletter on Swedish development cooperation and policy
Dear readers,
Welcome back to Development Sweden and our 10th newsletter. The following are our headlines:
Jakob Granit was appointed as the new Director General for Sida
All research within development cooperation will be stopped
Sudan: Sweden refuses to return passports
Johan Forssell: ”Exciting – but also hard work”
Reforming the World Bank to Address the Climate Threat
Burma: Swedish Weapons Continue to Kill People
Humanitarian Aid: 160 Million for Reconstruction in Turkey
New at work
Silvia Kakembo elected to the board of Läkarmissionen
Silvia Kakembo is also the managing director at Arena Opinion, where she has been since March 2021. Silvia Kakembo has experience in both political communication and marketing communication through her previous positions as a political advisor at the Ministry of Finance, as a management consultant and marketing manager at the consulting firm Centigo, and as an editorial writer at Dagens Arena. Article readout.
Michael Arthursson new chairman of WaterAid Sweden
Michael Arthursson has previously served as the Secretary-General of the Center Party and has been involved in businesses focusing on development and social issues. He has worked within the City of Stockholm and Stockholm County Council, and has held board positions in organizations such as Danderyd Hospital, Randello Invest, the Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions, and the Swedish Youth Council. Currently, he works as an independent strategic advisor.
Beatrice Rindevall is the new chairman of the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation
Beatrice has previously worked at both the Swedish Research Council Formas, the national office of the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation, and has run her own company. She has also been actively involved as a volunteer in the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation and several other organizations, including Artists for the Environment, where she currently serves as vice chairman.
Jakob Granit was appointed as the new Director General for Sida
Jakob Granit, currently Director-General of the Swedish Agency for Marine and Water Management, has been appointed as the new Director-General of Sida. The new Chairman of the Board will be the former Minister for Development Cooperation, Gunilla Carlsson.
– I have worked with sustainable development for many years and believe that development issues are extremely important. Therefore, I am happy that I now have the opportunity to contribute to and support development in other countries, says Jakob Granit in an interview with Global Bar Magazine.
– The changes we are now implementing are taking place in several areas. It is not least about finding work synergies that make aid more effective and transparent. It is also central to the Government that aid does not take place in a vacuum, but that it is part of our overall foreign policy, said Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Johan Forssell in connection with the presentation.
In his presentation, the Development Minister emphasized Jakob Granit’'s long experience in public administration and the fact that he has broad expertise, both from previous work at Sida and at the World Bank, among others.
– Jakob Granit has impressive negotiating experience from Africa and the Middle East, the Minister continued.
Mr. Granit, who holds a Ph.D. in geography, has 30 years of experience working in natural resource management and development at the nexus of water, energy, and food, focusing on the source-to-sea continuum. He is currently the Director General of the Swedish Agency for Marine and Water Management (SwaM) based in Gothenburg, Sweden. He was Chair of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) during 2020–2022.
He has previously served as the Stockholm Centre Director of the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) and its Global Deputy Director. For four years, he was a member of the International Water Panel of the Global Environment Facility’s Scientific and Technical Advisory Panel (GEF STAP). His research has focused on how to achieve collective action for international waters (fresh and marine water resources) and how to support strategic planning and project transactions to achieve results on the ground. Jakob has extensive work experience from Eastern and Southern Africa, the Middle East, the US, and Europe, including from the World Bank and Sida.
Gunilla Carlsson was a member of the Swedish Parliament and – for many – a very controversial development minister from 2006 to 2013.
– This is a formative time for Swedish aid, and I am enthusiastic about taking this on with other colleagues. It is a difficult but important task, and I look forward to supporting the new Director-General and management and to jointly manage the international reputation of the agency, said Gunilla Carlsson when she was introduced.
Some quick questions for Jakob Granit, the new Sida Director-General:
Why did you take the job?
– I have worked with sustainable development for many years and believe that development issues are extremely important. Therefore, I am happy that I now have the opportunity to contribute to and support development in other countries.
During your presentation, you said that you are confident about your task as head of Sida. What do you mean by that?
– (laughs) I have worked with these issues for a long time and in many different positions, from Sida to the World Bank and in research, so I think I know the issues quite well.
The aid minister highlighted the fact that you have good negotiating skills. How do you want to use this in light of the major conflicts that currently exist between the government and the research community, as well as between the government and civil society, when it comes to aid. In your new role, can you pour oil on the waves?
– Basically, it’s about communicating limited resources, and it’s important to understand that there are different positions and different starting points and that the changes that are implemented have different effects. In the dialogue that takes place, it is important to listen and find solutions that benefit everyone, but in some cases this is not possible.
Will there be more focus on water and the environment with you as head of Sida?
– Yes, not impossible (laughs). My colleagues and I have worked extensively with natural resources as a starting point for building sustainable societies. The war in Ukraine, not least the destruction of the dam, also shows how important environmental issues are in such contexts.
Gunilla Carlsson, former Minister for Development Cooperation, is the new Chairman of the Board of Sida. Have you worked together before?
– Not directly, but when I was at the Stockholm Environment Institute as a researcher, we had some dialogue on development issues. The board is important for government agencies; it helps us get an overview and ensures that it works. Gunilla Carlsson has a broad experience that we can benefit from, not least because of her background in the EU and the UN system.
Johan Forssell has repeatedly said that aid and trade issues should move closer together. At the same time, there are clear rules, the so-called DAC rules, that govern how aid can be used. What conflicts do you see arising between these rules and the government’s ambitions?
– I have not familiarised myself with this and I do not know how the DAC rules are designed in detail, so I will have to return to you on that question.
When do you take office?
– On 1 September.
All research within development cooperation will be stopped
The government has decided that all funding for development research via the Swedish Research Council will be stopped immediately. Researchers call the decision a disaster.
– The decision represents a total confrontation with the research community, says Sten Hagberg, head of the Forum for African Studies at Uppsala University.
In a message sent to the Swedish Research Council’s panel, officials at the secretariat write that all new support for development research will be stopped after the government has decided on the matter.
The Swedish Research Council writes:
“Dear panel members, since 2013, the Swedish Research Council has funded grants within development research, i.e., research of particular relevance to the fight against poverty and sustainable development in least-developed countries. Development research is funded by the Government’s development aid funds. At a meeting on 22 June, the Government decided that, effective immediately, no new decision on funding can be taken for development research. This Government decision means that the ongoing review process must be canceled. Applications for research funding submitted to the calls within development research (project grant, starting grant, international postdoc, network grant- Swedish Research Links) will not be granted funding, and the review panels within development research (UF-1, UF-3, and UF-5) will be dissolved.
We are very sorry to give you this information just as you prepare to start reviewing applications, but we have only received notice of the decision. We want to express our gratitude to all of you for contributing to the Swedish Research Council. To those of you who have participated before in our review process, thank you again for your important work and for contributing with your time and expertise. To new panel members, thank you for being prepared for this task. We hope to have the opportunity to work with all of you again if circumstances change. You will all receive a remuneration of 1000 SEK for your work. Should you have any questions, please contact us using the email bguf@vr.se.
Sincerely, Emelie Adamson, Senior research officer and coordinator for the review process, and Lisa Westholm, Coordinator for development research.”
This information is a consequence of the changes in the appropriation directions for the Swedish Research Council decided by the Government on 22 June. The last line of the document reads:
”The agency may not enter into new commitments as of 30 June 2023.”
https://www.esv.se/statsliggaren/regleringsbrev/Index?rbId=23821
The consequence is that all new funding for development research through the Swedish Research Council will be stopped while ongoing projects may continue.
Reactions in the research community have been strong. Not least because the decision was made after researchers around Sweden had submitted their applications; in total, about 200 applications have been submitted to the Swedish Research Council and will not be processed. Around 60 research projects receive funding from the Swedish Research Council every year.
The outrage on social media is vast. Martina Björkman Nyqvist, Professor at the Stockholm School of Economics, writes:
“Terrible decision by the Swedish government – they decided on 22 June that the Swedish Research Council may not provide funding for development research (ALL research on low-income countries!). The decision is effective immediately and applies to all applications. What a shame to be Swedish today!”
https://twitter.com/bjorkmanmartina/status/1673685953578168320
Johannes Haushofer, a professor of economics at Stockholm University, writes:
“Disastrous decision by the Swedish government to scrap funding for development research. Including just submitted grants-thousands of wasted hours. Bad for Sweden’s standing in science; worse for people in low-income countries.”
https://twitter.com/jhaushofer/status/1673668429780230148
– Slaughtering the support without even assessing the submitted applications is a complete waste of an enormous amount of work, continues Sten Hagberg, professor at Uppsala University.
Jesper Sundewall researches health issues and is part of the SWEDEV research network.
– A large part of development research is about global health, which the government has previously claimed is a priority area. One consequence now is that many partnership collaborations with research groups in other countries will not be able to continue, says Jesper Sundewall.
Much research is also linked to another of the government’s favorite areas – trade and industry – which will also be negatively affected.
– In the long term, the consequences will be great, not least because it is difficult to get other types of funding for this research, continues Jesper Sundewall.
The government has previously been heavily criticized for making significant cuts in aid to countries such as Myanmar and Latin America, without any impact assessments and without dialogue with embassies or the organisations and authorities that implement the aid. This seems to have been the case this time as well.
On 22 June, the same day the government stopped funding development research, a group of researchers met with Karl Mikael Gräns, coordinator of the government’s reform agenda.
Dialogue issues and a meeting between the research community and the Government Offices in August were discussed during the meeting. Still, no one from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs mentioned the drastic cuts decided on the same day. On the contrary, State Secretary Diana Janse is said to have expressed her appreciation for the engagement of the research community.
Global Bar Magazine reached out to the aid minister throughout Wednesday without getting answers to our questions. Instead, his press secretary refers to a statement in DN where Johan Forssell says:
– The background is that we have a war in Europe, with enormous humanitarian needs in Ukraine and significant needs to also build up Ukraine, which we will do for many years. Then we have to reorganise the aid.
Part of the culture war?
Many of those with whom Global Bar Magazine has been in contact are puzzled as to why the government is again choosing to go into total confrontation with the scientific community (previously, it was about the appointment of members of university boards).
Is it just a lack of skill and professionalism, or is this cutback part of the so-called culture war led by the Sweden Democrat shadow cabinet?
Elsa Kugelberg, graduate student and writer, says it’s probably the latter. She writes in Dagens Nyheter:
https://www.dn.se/kultur/elsa-kugelberg-regeringen-saboterar-svensk-forskning/
“When calls for proposals are suddenly stopped, it should be seen as a signal to all of us working in academia: choose other subjects, choose something that suits our interests. Choose something that keeps SD in a good mood.”
A group of researchers is preparing an appeal that will soon be published. Vice-chancellors from several of Sweden’s leading universities are also preparing a joint statement.