Development Sweden #15. Budget 2024: No Big Surprises for Aid
A newsletter on Swedish development cooperation and policy
Welcome to Development Sweden #15. In this issue we deliver insight in the Swedish governments budget for international aid 2024 which was presented yesterday. Free subscribers can read a full article from our editor in chief with his comments on the governments new directions for development cooperation. If you would like to read the article on the new international aid budget you are most welcome to upgrade to a paid subscription. Thank you for joining and supporting Development Sweden.
The following are our headlines:
Business, business, business
Budget 2024: No Big Surprises for Aid
The government gives Sida a setback on migration
Belarus: Sweden Can Provide Passports for Opposition Figures
Libya: Still No Swedish Crisis Aid
Ukraine: Export Guarantees to Support Swedish Companies
Giving: Decline Begins to Show
David Isaksson
Editor in Chief, Global Bar Magazine
Monika Gutestam Hustus
Editor, Development Sweden
What do you think we should write more about? Please give us feedback and suggestions.
Write to:
david@globalreporting.net
mgutestam@aol.com
New at work
Mathilda Piehl new fundraising manager at WaterAid
Matilda Piehl is the new Fundraising and Communications Director at WaterAid. She previously served as the Communications Director at RFSL.
Louise Myrseth new Communications Manager at WaterAid
Louise Myrseth is the new unit manager for communication at WaterAid. She previously served as a press secretary and copywriter at the same organization.
Johan Harlén new Head of Fundraising at WaterAid
Johan Harlén is the new Head of Fundraising at WaterAid. He will assume this role on October 2nd. Johan Harlén most recently worked at Civil Rights Defenders, where he was responsible for fundraising from the private sector since 2019.
Business, business, business
Business, business, business. New aid goals and Swedish self-interest. That’s how you can summarize Minister for Development Cooperation and Trade Johan Forssell when he participated in the Saturday interview on Ekot. And there won’t be any further dialogue with civil society before the policy is finalized, notes Global Bar Magazine’s editor-in-chief David Isaksson.
This is a commentary. The opinions expressed are the author’s own.
Since Johan Forssell took office as Minister for Development Cooperation and Trade, we have been trying to secure a larger interview with him without success (but we won’t give up!). Ekot apparently had better luck when Johan Forssell was a guest on the Saturday interview on September 16.
It was a well-prepared questioning, although the answers hardly contained anything new for Global Bar Magazine’s readers. Johan Forssell confirmed that they are looking into the Finnish model to potentially cut off aid to countries supporting the Russian war of aggression, something we reported on first.
During the interview, Johan Forssell repeatedly came back to corruption as a hindrance – not so much for poverty alleviation, but for business (!). Here, Johan Forssell mentioned Liberia several times, perhaps because it is one of the few major recipient countries he has actually visited so far. Ironically, Liberia is, on the other hand, an example of a truly poor country where Swedish business has been involved! (Hint: Google LAMCO).
It also seemed like the Minister for Development Cooperation and Trade was unaware that many companies, including Swedish giants like Ericsson, have been deeply involved in corruption scandals worldwide, including in the aid-recipient country Iraq.
Migration and how aid should be used to encourage people to return (or get the government to accept deported citizens) were, of course, central to the interview.
In the draft of the new aid policy that we have previously written about, it is stated, among other things, that the government wants to use aid as a ”foreign policy lever” to improve cooperation on migration with recipient countries and wants to have a ”deepened dialogue with relevant governments.”
Clearly, the government does not believe that Sida is doing enough in this regard and has given the agency a setback, which we write about here. But despite the high-handedness, Minister for Development Cooperation Johan Forssell seems to have apparent problems explaining how the return will work in practice when such a small portion of the aid goes to the state, as in the case of Iraq, which we have written about here.
The Minister for Development Cooperation responded:
”We haven’t done it before, so we don’t know, but every little bit helps. We haven’t said that this would be a universal aid tool, but you have to see it within the framework of our ongoing diplomatic dialogue.”
The response leads me to believe that Johan Forssell has as little faith in this as many others, but when the Sweden Democrats are in power, you have to toe the line. And it looks good on paper.
The answers became a bit clearer regarding the role of business. ”Tied aid is not a foreign concept,” said the Minister for Development Cooperation, hinting that they might go back to increased tied aid (or ”greater flexibility”) – at least for parts of the aid. At the same time, he noted that the current so-called DAC rules may be reviewed, as Sweden is far from alone in wanting to see increased tied aid.
”Aid cannot operate in its own universe; it’s also about promoting Swedish interests,” Johan Forssell said.
In the coming days, the United Nations General Assembly will convene with three high-level meetings on health issues, as we write about. During the interview, the Minister for Development Cooperation did not mention the UN and the need (or lack thereof) for multilateral cooperation. Still, perhaps time did not allow for it: both he and several others from the government will be in New York during the week.
So, what can we expect in the future? The budget that will be presented this week will provide some indication, although it will be later in the autumn before the promised new policy documents for aid are finalized.
It has already been made clear that there will be more focus on Ukraine, the neighboring region, and fewer countries and strategies. This likely means less development cooperation (but retained humanitarian aid) for the world’s poorest countries. At the same time, Johan Forssell may have a point when he states that 60 percent of the world’s poorest people live in middle-income countries. Perhaps it makes more sense, numerically, to work there than in poor, ”hopeless” countries. The question is, what happens in countries where Russia’s influence is growing stronger in large parts of Africa and Latin America?
The ”secret” document we have previously written about is likely making its final(?) rounds between the cooperation parties and the Sweden Democrats. It seems clear that new aid policy goals will be established, which will likely include something about Sweden and Swedish business, considering the work of the past six months. There will be no consultation round on the new policy either; the 20–25 meetings the government has held with various stakeholders should be sufficient, according to Johan Forssell.
But if aid goals are to be changed, the question must reasonably reach the parliament, and then it remains to be seen how the Christian Democrats and the Liberals will react. Right now, they are probably wriggling like fish on the Sweden Democrats’ hook.
After all, aid is not very important. At least not compared to holding political power.
David Isaksson, Editor-in-chief, Global Bar Magazine