The Social Democrats' aid promises: One percent target, feminism and Agenda 2030

The Social Democrats' development aid ambitions are rooted in the conviction that Sweden has a responsibility to contribute to a more stable and fair world, while at the same time that development aid policy also benefits Sweden. This is according to Olle Thorell, development aid policy spokesperson for the Social Democrats, in a interview with FUF:  

– Sweden should provide aid because it is good for the world and for Sweden. Aid is not charity because you feel sorry for poor people, but an investment in a more stable, more just world. We live on this planet together and we who are lucky enough to belong to the more prosperous part of the world should allocate one hundredth of our wealth for common security, safety and justice.  

Sweden's role is clear in the Social Democrats' aid policy program: as global needs increase and international aid decreases, Sweden's responsibility increases. 

Development assistance focus areas 

On its website The Social Democrats declare that poverty reduction should be at the center of development aid policy. The goal is embodied in four main ambitions: people should be able to escape poverty, live more securely, have better living conditions and have influence over their lives.

Other priorities include a reinstated feminist foreign policy with a focus on women's representation and sexual and reproductive health, a strengthened children's rights perspective, and increased support for civil society, popular movements, and trade unions. Development aid should also be a tool for peacebuilding, promoting democracy, prioritizing the most vulnerable countries, and driving climate change. The latter is an area where Sweden, according to the party, should take the lead globally. 

– The climate issue is the absolute fate of humanity. Sweden is not even doing its own homework – we are increasing our emissions. With aid, we can help other countries get closer to their climate goals and climate should be a growing part of aid, explains Morgan Johansson, Social Democratic MP and former Minister of Justice and the Interior, in a interview with the IM podcast. 

Reintroducing the one percent target is one of the Social Democrats' clearest priorities. The one percent target, which means that Sweden allocates one percent of gross national income (GNI) to aid, was a broad agreement in Swedish aid policy from 1968 until it was abolished in 2022 by the current government. 

I the party's aid policy program It is clear that the Social Democrats want to reintroduce the target and raise the level of aid by gradually increasing aid allocations to one percent of GNI. How this will be implemented in practice is less clear – the party has not set an exact date for the return but instead talks about a gradual escalation. A line that Morgan Johansson and Olle Thorell repeat in their interviews.  

A related issue is how the size of the aid is calculated. The Social Democrats accept that costs for refugee reception are counted as aid as long as it follows the international DAC regulations, Johansson explains in IM-the podcast.  

The framework for aid 

The level of aid is only part of the picture. Equally important to the Social Democrats are the principles that govern how aid is implemented. For the Social Democrats, the 2030 Agenda's global development goals constitute the obvious framework for aid policy. Olle Thorell believes in his conversation with FUF that the current government has downgraded work on Agenda 2030 in all policy areas, and emphasizes the need for a fresh start: 

–We want to see a fresh start for the Agenda 2030 work, and development policy is an important part of that. 

Closely linked to this is the principle of coherence: that development policy should go hand in hand with Sweden's policy in other areas, such as climate, trade and security policy.  

The idea of ​​consensus is also visible in the party's desire to reintroduce feminist foreign policy. Olle Thorell emphasizes that gender equality should not be pursued as a separate track, but permeate all foreign and development policy:  

 – It will be visible in appropriation letters to authorities, in country strategies at Sida, in instructions to embassies. There will be clear guidelines for how to work to integrate gender equality and feminism in all of their activities.  

In addition, trust is emphasized. For the Social Democrats, aid should be based on trust in the actors who carry out the work, rather than on detailed political control:   

– Politics must be based more on trust than on detailed control. This applies to both Sida and civil society, explains Johansson in The IM podcast.  

Foreign and security policy 

For the Social Democrats, aid is also a foreign policy tool – a form of “soft power”, as Johansson puts it in The IM podcast. Thorell describes in FUF's interview aid in similar terms – as a diplomatic instrument and part of Sweden's foreign policy toolbox. He highlights that aid policy has historically strengthened Sweden's role and voice in international contexts, which was evident, among other things, when Sweden was elected to the UN Security Council in 2017. 

The UN and multilateral cooperation are a cornerstone of the Social Democrats' foreign policy. The party wants to increase support for the UN and resume support for the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA). This is evident from the party's development aid programs. On party website The Social Democrats also write that they intend to push for new UN structures in the form of a special envoy for LGBTQI rights globally and an international equality commission within the UN system. 

To safeguard the global order is to safeguard Sweden's security according to the Social Democrats. In party program This is concretized in the ambition that Sweden should be a “strong voice for democracy, peace and security” in a time of war and conflict.

On the party's website They write that security policy should be built on three pillars: active diplomacy, strong alliances in the EU and NATO, and consistent international solidarity. At the center is the rules-based international order with the UN and international law. The list of measures includes, among other things, the rearmament of military and civilian defense, work for nuclear disarmament, and continued support for Ukraine. 

I party program support to Ukraine is prioritized, but Olle Thorell emphasizes that the support must not be at the expense of other countries: 

– Support for Ukraine must not become an excuse for turning our backs on the rest of the world, he says, pointing out that Sweden now provides more aid to Ukraine than to all of Africa combined.

In the long term, Olle Thorell wants the reconstruction of Ukraine to be financed through integration into the EU's internal market and with private investments. 

 At a time when defense issues require ever greater space in the state budget, aid is being put at the forefront. For the Social Democrats, however, security and solidarity are two sides of the same coin: both are about Sweden's role in a troubled world. Morgan Johansson formulates it in The IM podcast as a matter of morality as much as politics: 

– Most people feel a moral obligation to help when others are having a hard time. When various actors withdraw their support and famine spreads, most people have empathy. It is the feeling of solidarity that must be built on. Sweden should be a good citizen in the international community. 

 

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