While waiting for the spring FUF editorial staff to start covering the debate on global issues, here are a couple of reading tips from the debate on global issues in recent weeks.
In connection with the start of the People and Defense security conference fits Carl Bjorkman, Head of Nordics at the Gates Foundation and Ulrika Schenstrom, CEO of Fores, on arguing for the peace-building role of international development aid. "To meet tomorrow's challenges, long-term investments are required in both defense and aid, in the immediate area as well as far away," they write in Svenska Dagbladet.
The development expert Goran Holmqvist has recently published a number of different analyzes about the effects of the government's transformation of aid policy, also called the reform agenda. In an essay in Today's Arena Holmqvist explains how support for humanitarian work, peacebuilding and cooperation with countries in Africa has been particularly affected. Withdrawn funds for research and information and communication efforts were also early effects of the reform agenda. “Using development aid funds to conduct communication activities in Sweden is now reserved for party-based support,” he writes, noting that the voices of Sida and civil society are noticeably quieter.