The National Audit Office's review of Sida's choice of partners and form of aid
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
The debate concerns the Swedish National Audit Office's review of Sida's choice of partners and forms of aid. S considers that there is a broad consensus on the importance of reviewing aid to make it effective and purposeful 1. S emphasizes that the review only covers a small part of the aid and that Swedish aid otherwise is considered to be of high quality 1. M argues that a paradigm shift is occurring where the focus is shifted from giving the most to focusing on results and trade 2. M wants Sida's working methods to ensure full transparency and traceability in decision-making processes 2.
Written by AI in advance and may contain errors. The numbers lead to the speech a statement builds on; check against the text below.
Olle Thorell (S)
Mr. Speaker! In this report, we in the Committee on Foreign Affairs address the Swedish National Audit Office's review of Sida's choice of partners and form of aid. There are no motions or reservations in the report, and the proposal is to submit it for handling.
As I said in my speech in the previous debate, there is a broad consensus in the Riksdag and in the committee on the importance of constantly reviewing the aid in order to improve it and make it as effective and purposeful as possible. The National Audit Office's report is an important piece of this work that I believe we all welcome.
The National Audit Office's audit focuses on whether the government and Sida have created conditions for effective choices of partners and forms of aid in the implementation of Swedish development cooperation. The National Audit Office's audit is based on observations of strategies that took effect between 2014 and 2018. It has been conducted against the background that Sida conveys a significant part of Sweden's international aid. In 2020, for example, it was 26.2 billion kronor.
Most of the funds finance aid efforts carried out by other actors in partnership with Sida. Sida's choice of partners is therefore, of course, important for how the aid funds are used and what results they are expected to achieve.
The review shows that Sida's internal governance and support primarily promote effective elections. The Swedish National Audit Office points out, however, some deficiencies in, among other things, clarity and governance and provides recommendations on how this can be improved.
It is important to remember that this review concerns a small part of Swedish aid and only one aspect of the work that Sida does. The recommendations and the review are important and good but should not be seen as a statement on the entirety of Swedish aid.
There are other organizations that do and have done reviews of the entire aid policy, for example OECD's Development Assistance Committee Dac. They and other evaluators who compare different countries' aid policies have repeatedly concluded that Swedish aid maintains high quality and is among the world's best.
It is clear that there are examples where things have gone wrong, projects that have failed, and management that could have been both clearer and more efficient. But I still want to conclude by quoting from the review that OECD-DAC conducted of the entire Swedish aid this past year – and I apologize to the Speaker for temporarily switching to English.
"Sweden is an adept, ambitious and influential actor on global sustainable development who has shown leadership at the international level on peace and conflict prevention, environmental sustainability and climate change, and gender equality."
Sweden has in place a comprehensive toolbox to help it to leave no one behind and promote gender equality and women´s rights.
Sveriges decentraliserade ansats är också en stor tillgång som möjliggör responsiv och flexibel programmering. Dessutom har den en proaktiv ansats till att hantera korruption.
"Sweden is strongly committed to the international development effectiveness principles, actively supporting country ownership and donor co-ordination, and is a valued, long-term partner to multilateral and civil society organisations."
We Social Democrats have high ambitions for Swedish aid, and we naturally want it to continue to be world-class, effective and purposeful.
I would like to take the opportunity to thank the National Audit Office for its important report and the conclusions we have received regarding both the government and Sida.
Fredrik Saweståhl (M)
Mr. Speaker! Swedish aid policy has for a very long time circulated around a single goal, namely the desire to give absolutely the most. This has been manifested through the one percent goal, and it has been the case since the 70s.
But now a long-awaited paradigm shift is occurring regarding Swedish aid policy. The goal is changing. We notice that this paradigm shift has gained traction even outside the parties behind the Tidö Agreement and the parties behind the government, because the largest opposition party is also cutting the aid framework in its budget alternative.
Hopefully, this implies a new view on Swedish aid, where we focus on the result and what we can achieve best instead of most. That is welcome. It is also welcome that we link trade to aid, aid to trade.
The reformed aid will obviously also entail changes for the agency that has the greatest responsibility in the aid area, namely Sida, and it is Sida's choice of partners that we are discussing now.
This review that we have received from the Swedish National Audit Office says - which we all know - that large parts of the aid are still channeled via Sida, and therefore it is naturally extremely important how Sida works and what they achieve.
What is very positive about this review is that it nonetheless notes that Sida primarily governs in a way that promotes effective elections. However, there is relevant criticism regarding lack of clarity, transparency, and a lack of results and follow-up, and it is important that we continue to address that.
For us Moderates, it is important that the agency's working methods are designed in a way that ensures full transparency and traceability in the agency's processes, choices, and decisions. We therefore see it as positive that Sida, as an agency, has initiated a development work to improve all these points. We feel confident that the reform of the aid policy that is now taking place in large part will also involve a development of how Sida as an agency works. It will entail a development that provides greater clarity regarding which choices Sida makes and why, greater openness so that the transparency that is demanded becomes a reality, and a very clear focus on achieving results.
Mr. Speaker! These are undeniably interesting times also for aid policy. It is a necessary reforming that is taking place today, where Sweden will continue to be a major donor, but where we now place the focus on quality and results, and on linking trade and aid and contributing to the best possible development for openness, freedom, and sustainability.
The deliberation was hereby concluded.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.