Concluding remarks: Wastefulness does not lift anyone out of poverty

Of: Andreas Celan and John Manders

In a reply to my article (FUF 26/2) about the many shortcomings of development assistance, SSU's chairman Pavlos Cavelier Bizas writes that Swedish development assistance is needed more than ever and that the 1% target must be defended. A goal that is almost to be regarded as a holy cow in Swedish political debate. Leaving this principle that the development assistance budget should be designed as a predetermined share of the state budget unchallenged is at best wasteful and at worst directly counterproductive to achieving the goals the development assistance is intended to meet, say Andreas Celan and John Manders from the Moderate Youth Association.

March 23, 2021, Debate

Reduce the development assistance budget and follow up on taxpayers' money

Of: Andreas Celan

Several cases of failed aid projects show that Sida cannot ensure that the aid money goes where it is supposed to. For this reason, the development assistance budget should be reduced and a larger part of the development assistance money will go to making the necessary investments in Sweden, says Andreas Celan, the Moderate Youth Association in Uppsala.

February 26, 2021, Debate

Corruption complicates development cooperation in DR Congo

Joachim Beijmo, Head of Development Aid at the Swedish Embassy in Kinshasa.

Of: Anna Mattsson

Sweden is one of the world's largest donors to the Democratic Republic of Congo. However, the high level of corruption in the country affects development cooperation. Utvecklingsmagasinet has interviewed Joachim Beijmo, head of development assistance at the Swedish embassy in Kinshasa.

February 11, 2021, Interview

Sida cannot outsource the country knowledge

Map with magnifying glass

Of: Göran Hyden

In recent years, the development agency Sida's task has been to move and manage money. There is no time left for what makes development assistance more effective - to gain knowledge and understanding of the environment in which development assistance is to be integrated. This is what Professor Göran Hydén writes, who is now proposing an internal investigation.

July 2, 2020, Debate

We can not do everything everywhere

Of: Rune Jansen Hagen

For aid to be effective, donors must choose and prioritize what they want to invest in. During the last decade, both Sweden and Norway have tried to reduce the number of countries receiving their aid. Now, however, it seems to be going in the other direction. Rapid political changes risk diluting development aid, writes researcher Rune Jansen Hagen.

March 13, 2018, Debate

Sweden must dare to engage in dialogue with authoritarian states

Of: Lennart Wohlgemuth

When Sweden conducts development cooperation with undemocratic countries, we must choose whether we should cooperate with the state or not. If we are to be able to influence the development of another country in the long term, the only alternative is for us to have a close dialogue with the country, writes Professor Lennart Wohlgemuth.

January 16, 2018, Debate

The lasting results of development assistance need to be discussed further

Of: Jan Pettersson and Marcus Burman

The very starting point for international development cooperation is to contribute to lasting change. At the same time, there is often a lack of knowledge about the long-term results of development assistance - after the financing has been completed. Aid must to an increased extent be designed and evaluated with the existing changes in focus, writes the Expert Group for Aid Analysis (EBA).

January 11, 2018, Debate

We need to map out how the global goals in Agenda 2030 are related

Of: Annie Sturinge (f. Sturesson) and Måns Nilsson

When decision-makers invest in schooling for girls, it affects gender equality and the level of education as well as poverty and health. In order to better implement the global goals in Agenda 2030, we therefore need to map out how the different goals are connected to each other, write Måns Nilsson and Annie Sturesson at the research institute SEI.

September 18, 2017, Debate