prop · H103131en · 2014-03-18 00:00:00 — – the direction of Swedish aid The Government submits this Communication to the Riksdag. (Ministry for Foreign Affairs) contents of the Communication In this Communication the Government sets out the direction of Swedish aid. The aid policy framework is a central document in aid policy and forms the point of departure for the Governments management of Swedish aid. addresses the principles and values that are to guide Swedish aid. In it the Government also sets out the direction of aid in the form of a hierarchy of aid objectives and results that Swedish aid is to help to achieve. Clearer governance and an increased focus on results will improve the for effectively reducing poverty. 2013/14:131 Contents The matter and its preparation .......................................................... The role of aid in a changing world .................................................. A changing world ............................................................... Fundamental values in Swedish aid ................................. A deeper focus on poor and oppressed peoples own perspective on development ...... The rights perspective – for aid that derives from human rights ........................................... Points of departure for aid policy ..................................... The direction of Swedish aid. A clear hierarchy of objectives for Swedish aid ............... Reasons for choice of sub-objectives ............................... Target groups of Swedish aid ........................................... 4.4Ensuring that the direction of Swedish aid policy has an impact .................................................................... 5 The six sub-objectives of aid policy................................................ 5.1Sub-objective 1: Strengthened democracy and gender equality, greater respect for human rights and freedom from oppression ........................................... 5.1.1Greater opportunities to assert civil and political rights, exercise democratic influence robust democratic processes and institutions and greater respect for the principles of the rule of law............................ 5.1.3A vibrant and pluralistic civil society and strengthened democratisation actors................ Greater gender equality, rights and empowerment for women and girls ................. 5.1.5Greater access to free and independent media, both new and traditional .................................. 5.2Sub-objective 2: Better opportunities for people living in poverty to contribute to and benefit from economic growth and obtain a good education ............................................. Improved access to good quality education ..... and better jobs........................................ inclusive and efficient markets .............. Improved food security.................................... 5.2.6High-quality research relevant to the fight against poverty .................................. Improved access to social protection............... Improved access to open and secure ICT ........ 5.2.9Greater capacity to tackle the opportunities and challenges brought about by migration and mobility .............................. 5.3Sub-objective 3: A better environment, limited climate impact and greater resilience to environmental impact, climate change and natural disasters ............................... Greater resilience to environmental impact, climate change and natural disasters, and a reduced environment and climate impact ....... Strengthened institutional capacity in and environmental institutions........................ Improved access to sustainable Sustainable management of ecosystems and sustainable use of ecosystem services ............ Sub-objective 4: Improved basic health .......................... Improved access to sexual and reproductive health and rights and reduced vulnerability to HIV and AIDS ............................................ Improved survival and healthier lives primarily for women and children .................. Improved access to clean water and basic sanitation......................................... 5.5Sub-objective 5: Safeguarding human security and freedom from violence .................................................... 5.5.1Reduced vulnerability to conflict and lapsing back into conflict ......................... 5.5.2Greater human security in conflict and post-conflict situations ............................. A reduction in gender-based violence ............ 5.6Sub-objective 6: Saving lives, alleviating suffering and maintaining human dignity .............................................. 5.6.1Humanitarian aid based on humanitarian needs, including the special needs of women and 5.6.2Improved food security in conjunction with humanitarian crises and disasters.................... 5.6.3Effective protection of refugees and internally 5.6.4Greater respect for humanitarian principles and international humanitarian law ....................... A strong and coordinated international Principles for effective and result-oriented Swedish aid ................ Major focus on results ..................................................... Openness and transparency ............................................. Aid must intensify the fight against corruption ............... Innovation and flexibility ................................................ New knowledge and cooperation with other actors......... Particular conditions in fragile states ............................... Cost and risk awareness ................................................... Cooperation and synergies in Swedish aid..................................... Well-adapted bilateral aid ................................................ Focus on poor and unfree countries................. A strong focus on the individual...................... The different partners of Swedish aid.............. Swedish aid must be adapted to the country context .......................................... Forms of bilateral aid ...................................... Strategic multilateral aid .................................................. as an effective aid channel............................... Global impact for Swedish aid priorities ......... Effective and results-oriented multilateral aid.54 Prioritisation criteria for Swedish aid via influence on and collaboration within EU aid ...... The EU as an aid actor..................................... Swedish influence on the EUs aid policy ....... The importance of coordination ...................... List of consultation bodies ...................................................................... Extract from the minutes of the Cabinet Meeting, 13 2014......... The matter and its preparation The Governments aid policy framework brings together the overarching direction and priorities of the Governments aid policy. The framework consolidates agreed policy previously developed in the arena of aid and sets out in concrete terms the direction of aid laid down in Policy for Global Development (PGD). This framework is a response to the criticism of the Governments management of aid raised by the for in its evaluation of the management of Swedish aid policy (2011:25) and by /DAC in its peer review (2005). A draft version of the Communication was circulated for consultation. A list of the consultation bodies is appended. The consultation responses have been incorporated in this final version of the Communication. A memorandum summarising the responses is available from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs (ref. UF2014/4543/UD/USTYR). has a long tradition of generous and ambitious aid. Aid is one of several important tools for the Government in working to attain the overarching objective of Policy for Global Development – equitable and sustainable global development. The aim of international aid is to create preconditions for better living conditions for people living in poverty and under oppression. has a moral responsibility to support people living under oppression, in vulnerable situations and in poverty. Swedish aid must be clear in its values and courageous in its actions. The aid policy framework is a central document in aid policy and forms the point of departure for the Governments management of Swedish aid. It brings together the key principles and values that are to steer Swedish aid, and also sets out the direction of aid in the form of a hierarchy of objectives and a number of results that Swedish aid must help to achieve. Clearer governance and an increased focus on results will improve the for effectively reducing poverty. The aid policy framework sees the Swedish Government consolidating its policy. The framework brings together the overarching direction and priorities of the Governments aid policy. The framework serves to guide the aid that out in individual countries, as well as our advocacy work in the aid provided by various multilateral organisations that helps to fund, and in EU aid. The priorities and goals set out by the Government in this framework concern the direction of Swedish aid overall, in other words state budget expenditure area 7 International aid, and involvement in Unions aid. Operations in other expenditure areas that are deducted from the aid budget are governed by other objectives – as well 2013/14:131 as core support and grants to multilateral organisations, which are funded from other expenditure areas. Aid is governed by steering documents, such as results strategies, appropriation directions and ordinances. This being the case, the framework does not order aid actors to act, but instead performs a guiding function in the implementation of aid and contributes towards a greater understanding of the direction of the Governments aid policy. Section 3 describes the most important changes relevant to aid that have taken place in the world around us. The Government then sets out the values that guide Swedish aid – the point of departure for Swedish aid is the needs and conditions of individual people living in poverty and under oppression, not those of states or governments, and Swedish aid must seek to contribute towards long-term, concrete results for individual people living in poverty and under oppression. aid is based on human rights and must be guided by a multidimensional view of poverty that takes as its starting point the perspective on development of people living in poverty themselves, and a rights perspective. Respect for human rights and for the right to live a free life is crucial to achieving socially, economically and environmentally sustainable development. The Government further sets out three starting points for the design and direction of aid: Swedish aid must have a clear focus, it must go hand in hand with policy coherence for equitable and sustainable global development, and it must be characterised by a perspective that looks beyond the aid itself. Section 4 clarifies the direction of Swedish aid. Swedish aid must encourage long-term sustainability and be particularly focused on women and girls in poor countries and on those fighting for freedom and democracy or living under oppression. While Swedish bilateral aid is primarily focused on achieving results in poor and unfree countries, multilateral aid and the EUs aid have a broader scope and are adapted to also achieve results in middle-income countries. Aid is focused on contributing towards the aims set out in the hierarchy of objectives for aid. This hierarchy derives from the objective of the Policy for Global Development, which is accordingly demarcated as one overarching objective for expenditure area 7 – to create preconditions for better living conditions for people living in poverty and under oppression. Accordingly, Section 5 presents six sub-objectives for aid, all of which work together and contribute towards the overarching objective. The six sub-objectives are: Strengthened democracy and gender equality, greater respect for human rights and freedom from oppression Better opportunities for people living in poverty to contribute to and benefit from economic growth and obtain a good education A better environment, limited climate impact and greater resilience to environmental impact, climate change and natural disasters Safeguarding human security and freedom from violence Saving lives, alleviating suffering and maintaining human dignity The Governments three thematic priorities – democracy and human rights, environment and climate, and gender equality and the role of women in development – are crucial to Swedish aid policy. Swedish aid and must also permeate all six of the sub-objectives. 2013/14:131 are particularly reflected in sub-objectives 1 and 3. Important principles for effective Swedish aid – such as transparency and openness, results-based management, cooperation with other actors, ownership, and flexibility and innovation – are set out in Section 6. Finally, Section 7 describes how Swedish aid is to be implemented and work in partnership – with bilateral aid, multilateral aid and EU aid. The Government has identified a need for clearer and more effective management of Swedish aid. With the aim of achieving this, existing policy in this area has been consolidated and is described within this framework. 3 The role of aid in a changing world international aid work began more than 50 years ago. Since then the world has changed rapidly. Poverty has fallen faster than ever before, while the global population has increased. The global economy, in which boundaries are increasingly being erased, has created prosperity, yet brought with it new challenges. New, massive challenges have emerged in the arena of the environment and climate. The same period has seen democracy and human rights become increasingly accepted as values across the globe. These changes in the world create new challenges and prerequisites for development. They also mean that the conditions under which aid operates and the opportunities it can provide have fundamentally changed. If aid is to be successful and generate results, it needs to continue to build on the efforts of countries or actors themselves. In this way, aid can pave the way for development. Despite the great strides made in recent decades, more than a billion people still live in extreme poverty. is one of the worlds richest, most democratic and most gender equal countries and therefore has a moral responsibility to help to improve living conditions for people living in poverty and under oppression. An ambitious aid policy is part of Policy for Global Development. The Government takes as its starting point and upholds () Development Assistance Committees (DAC) definition of development assistance. In brief, this states that Official Development Assistance () is flows provided by official agencies with the main objective of promoting the economic development and welfare of developing countries and with a grant element of at least 25 per cent. Swedish aid goes to the countries classified as recipients under /DACs criteria. allocates one percent of its gross national income to aid. This largely comprises expenditure area 7 in the national budget, International 2013/14:131 Costs in other parts of the national budget that can be classified as aid, along with debt relief, are also included. These are mainly certain costs for receiving asylum seekers, proportion of EU aid, the part of contributions to the regular budgets of certain multilateral organisations that can be classified as aid, and some of the foreign service costs for administering aid. This takes place in line with the OECD-DAC definition. The Government identifies a number of changes in the world around us that are particularly important for the direction and design of Swedish aid. People living in poverty and under oppression increasingly live in middle-income countries, in other words countries that themselves have the resources and the capacity to reduce poverty. Fast economic growth in low and middle-income countries has seen many countries, and broad swathes of the population in these countries, becoming less poor. Nevertheless, low-income countries are still in need of reforms, as well as international aid. At the same time, the range of actors and organisations with which Swedish aid has to interact has multiplied. This partly concerns large, middle-income countries that are simultaneously donors and recipients of aid, as well as philanthropists and foundations, global civil society, religious groups, etc. The liberalisation of world trade has enabled companies in poor countries to participate in global value chains to a greater extent and enabled individual people to lift themselves out of poverty. Millions of people are enjoying higher incomes and greater economic freedom, while increased trade is also creating greater vulnerability to economic fluctuations in the wider world. Increased trade also brings with it a greater need to ensure good working conditions for people in low and middle-income countries. At the same time, developments in information and communication technologies have given greater numbers of people in poor and unfree parts of the world access to greater knowledge and new opportunities to influence their own situation and the world in which they live. However, developments for the poorest countries have accrued slowly, and inequality within these countries has grown. Population growth has tailed off in large areas of the world but remains high in many low-income countries, including some of the worlds poorest and most unstable countries. Many poor countries still have very young populations. The demographic transition towards an ageing population will bring challenges in the years ahead. The big challenge for the majority of poor countries today, however, is the large proportion of children and young people in the population – in terms of meeting their needs, safeguarding their rights and making the most of the opportunity they represent. The vast majority of the worlds poor population still live in rural areas and support themselves from farming and fishing. However, in the majority of the worlds countries the urban population is growing faster than the rural population. This means that economic growth as well as poverty is increasing faster in urban areas. People are moving more than ever before and today a seventh of the worlds population are migrants, either within a country or internationally. The nature of health challenges is changing. The significance of diseases such as malaria, diarrhoea and pneumonia is decreasing in relative terms although the poorest countries of the world are still in great need. Child mortality has fallen in the past 20 years as a result, but children are still dying every year from causes that could have been prevented. Maternal mortality has also considerably reduced on a global scale but remains high. At the same time, non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, cancer and strokes are affecting the poorest countries of the world to a greater extent. Taken in combination, these changes mean a double burden for poor countries – simultaneously continuing to finance extensive programmes to combat infectious diseases while quickly putting in place preventive measures to reduce the risk of noncommunicable diseases. A very large proportion of the poorest countries are affected by ongoing or recently ended armed conflict. There is a clear correlation between violence and conflict on the one hand, and high child and maternal mortality, poor health and low levels of education on the other, for example. While poverty is falling at a global level, an increasing proportion of people in poverty are living in countries affected by conflict. In these countries, women and children are particularly affected. Rape and other forms of sexual and gender-based violence are common. The effects of ongoing climate change are already being seen. They risk having major consequences on ecosystems, food production, access to water, and health but also bring an increased risk of natural disasters and instability. Economic growth, changing lifestyles and growing populations, mean increasing demands for land, water, and energy. This trend has led to the depletion and pollution of the earths ecosystems and huge losses of biodiversity. In the future, slower-moving changes such as rising sea levels also risk changing many living environments for the worse. These changes also pose a threat to global food security. Here the poorest people in the poorest countries are often the most vulnerable because they are often directly dependent on natural resources for their livelihood. Major challenges remain in terms of climate change, and global emissions of greenhouse gases are continuing their rapid ascent. Global humanitarian needs are on the rise and are expected to continue to increase due to more complex and long drawn-out crises. Climate change, population growth and flows of refugees are expected to further increase the number of people in need of humanitarian aid. The trend is towards an increasing number of complex disasters, where natural disasters coincide with armed conflicts. This is exacerbated by a lack of democracy, functioning social institutions and political accountability. Seen over time, the position of democracy has been strengthened in much of the world. Union has expanded and the for closer ties with the EU has seen democracy and human rights having a greater impact. At the same time, the development of democracy is also fragile in many areas. Crimes against human rights remain common, and in many countries civil society has faced a tougher climate in recent 2013/14:131 years. The situation for freedom of expression and freedom of religion has also deteriorated in many places. The situation for women has improved in many countries. Women and men have the same legal right to property and inheritance in more countries than ever before. Despite this, there are still major challenges facing gender equality and greater rights for women and girls. It is still the case that the majority of the worlds poor are women and girls. Women suffer worse health, their access to education is considerably poorer, and their political and economic influence is less than that of men. Both in peacetime, and during armed conflict and disasters, the risks for women are greater due to violence, threats and oppression. Overall, the lack of gender equality has a negative impact on human and social development. Fundamental values in Swedish aid A deeper focus on poor and oppressed peoples own perspective on development The Government takes a multidimensional view of poverty. It takes as its point of departure how individual people living in poverty and under oppression describe their situation themselves, on the basis of their own reality and their own experiences, needs, priorities and prerequisites for changing their living conditions. When people who live in poverty are able to make their voices heard, they highlight circumstances that involve a lack of resources as well as a lack of power, security and opportunities, where the different deficiencies are mutually reinforcing. descriptions, which vary depending on gender, age, social position and geographical location, for example, are about more than a lack of income – although women and men who live in poverty usually highlight the importance of an income on which they can live as being fundamental. The accounts given by people living in poverty often include the fact that they almost always feel hungry and insecure and that they are unable to influence decisions that affect their own lives. vulnerability, dependence, humiliation and poor education and health, which, taken in combination, rob them of the freedom to decide their