Response to interpellation 2024/25:587 on aid for SRHR and gender equality work
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
M argues that Sweden is a world-leading actor in equality 1 and that the government has allocated funds for a new strategy for health and sexual and reproductive health 1. M emphasizes that equality is a core value 1 and that the government prioritizes aid to SRHR to save lives 2. M argues that the government has allocated extra support for safe abortions 3. V argues that equality aid is on a downward trend 4 and that it has worsened since the feminist foreign policy was removed 5. V advocates that the government should raise its voice for the rights of hbtq persons and women globally 6.
Written by AI in advance and may contain errors. The numbers lead to the speech a statement builds on; check against the text below.
Statsrådet Benjamin Dousa (M)
Mr. Speaker! Lotta Johnsson Fornarve has asked me if I am prepared to take on a leading role in developing a strategy together with like-minded countries, among other things to address the gap that has arisen after the USA's significant cuts to aid for SRHR and equality work. Lotta Johnsson Fornarve has also asked me if I and the government will break the downward trend and increase aid for equality and if I and the government will ensure that equality work is integrated into all aid and foreign policy.
Sweden is a leader in global equality work. UN Women is the UN's organization for gender equality and women's empowerment. We are one of the organization's largest bilateral donors, which we have been since 2014. Sweden's support to UN Women amounted to 534.5 million kronor in 2023. This year, we are contributing 112.5 million kronor in core funding and also hold the chair of UN Women's board. As chair, we lead the work to develop the organization's strategic plan for the years 2026–2029.
22.5 million kronor of the core support is earmarked for UN Women's activities in Ukraine. The support contributes to combating and preventing sexual and gender-based violence, reaching vulnerable and marginalized women and girls with humanitarian interventions, and countering human trafficking for, among other things, sexual purposes. The support also aims to support civil society organizations that promote women's livelihood opportunities, particularly among internally displaced persons.
Sweden's support to the UN Population Fund UNFPA amounted to approximately 1 billion kronor in 2023. This makes Sweden UNFPA's fourth largest bilateral donor. In March this year, the government decided on additional core support of 75 million kronor as a contribution to maintain the operations for safe and legal abortion. Furthermore, during March, the government also decided on 50 million kronor in extra support to UNFPA's humanitarian activities in Sudan, Gaza, and Ukraine. In December 2024, the government decided to allocate 4.3 billion kronor for a new strategy for health and sexual and reproductive health and rights for the period 2025–2029.
32 of 46 of the government's development strategies contain goals that contribute to equality and the empowerment of women and girls. Earlier this year, the government gave Sida additional guidance in the area of equality through a mandate to work with women's economic empowerment within the framework of the UN Women initiative Generation Equality. Gender mainstreaming of aid interventions is part of Sida's own work.
In February, the government made a new decision regarding the work on gender equality integration in the Government Offices 2025–2029. The decision means that a gender equality perspective shall be taken into account in the Government Offices' work, which is conducted both nationally and internationally. This includes central processes such as budget processes, agency management, legislative processes, EU work, and other international work.
Sweden and other donors will not be able to cover all the gaps that arise when countries reduce their aid. This applies in particular when the USA, which is one of the largest donors to the international system, withdraws.
As I have previously said, it may, however, become relevant to redirect limited support to cover individual, critical needs and monitor key interests. This applies particularly to issues concerning specifically sexual and reproductive health and rights, equality and the rights of women and girls, as well as support for Ukraine.
Lotta Johnsson Fornarve (V)
Mr. Speaker! Thank you, Minister, for the answer to my interpellation!
The Minister did not answer the core question, which is how the overall downward trend for gender equality aid is to be broken. In fact, the proportion of bilateral aid intended to contribute to equality is the lowest in nearly 25 years. This is shown in a report from Kvinna till Kvinna that was recently published.
Against that background, it is difficult to take the government's ambitions that equality should be a core value seriously, when the equality aid is going in the wrong direction. To refer to ongoing work is not sufficient.
From the Minister's response, one easily gets the incorrect impression that support for UN Women and UNFPA has increased. In reality, it has decreased. The Government halved the support to UN Women between 2022 and 2024 to then add to the budget for 2025 when Sweden holds the presidency. In the same way, the aid to UNFPA was first cut significantly, and then funds were added. But it is not about any increases; it has decreased in total.
In the same way, Sweden's support to the UN Peacebuilding Fund has decreased by more than 75 percent since 2022. It is the UN's best-performing fund regarding support for equality. The support to the UN body to combat HIV and AIDS, Unaids, has been completely phased out. Overall, the core support going to the broad area of equality has also decreased.
Women's rights are the key to development. Increasing women's opportunities for education, health, and livelihood contributes not only to strengthening the individual woman but also to the development of the entire society. With increased equality, the risk of war also decreases, and we get more democratic and prosperous societies.
To build real and sustainable equality, it is required that women are actively given the opportunity to participate at all levels of society. The gender perspective must therefore permeate all areas. It is therefore unfortunate that the government abolished the feminist foreign policy, which had precisely that purpose.
The Minister mentioned gender mainstreaming. But in the instructions to Sida, the government has changed the wording from "an integrated gender perspective that includes an analysis of the situation of women and girls and men and boys" to "consider gender equality in all relevant interventions." This is worrying, because it opens the door to arbitrariness regarding when gender equality can be said to be relevant. Unfortunately, there is a risk that even more of the aid will lack gender mainstreaming due to that change. I think we should go back to the feminist foreign policy.
Unfortunately, we also see how the work for women's and girls' rights is in retreat globally. The situation has become even worse after Donald Trump stopped all American aid and attacks sexual and reproductive health and rights, SRHR. Millions of people around the world are affected, and women and girls are particularly hard hit.
When equality is under such a serious attack, Sweden must take the lead and gather strength. We can do so much better. We have shown it before. But unfortunately, it seems that Sweden's voice for equality has fallen significantly silent. That is something I hear from various sides.
Is the government prepared to take on the leading work to develop a strategy together with like-minded countries to meet the gap, or at least parts of the gap, that has arisen after the USA's significant cuts to aid for SRHR and equality work?
It is also evident that a clearer and better governance of aid is needed to increase equality. Will Sweden's government break the downward trend and increase aid for equality? Will Sweden's government ensure that equality work is integrated into all aid and foreign policy?
Statsrådet Benjamin Dousa (M)
Mr. Speaker! We are currently living in a very uncertain world. A war is ongoing in our vicinity. The number of armed conflicts has reached record levels globally. The needs are constantly growing. But as Sweden's Minister for Development Cooperation, I have at my disposal finite resources.
It is my mission to ensure that the limited Swedish aid funds that we have, the Swedish citizens' tax money, go where they can do the greatest good. When other countries, and not least the USA, significantly reduce their aid, Sweden will not be able to cover all the gaps that arise.
The Ministry for Foreign Affairs is monitoring and evaluating the situation continuously, including the effects on different sectors and on countries in both the short and long term. The Ministry for Foreign Affairs is also investigating whether it may become relevant to redirect parts of the aid specifically to cover critical needs and to safeguard key interests.
The US aid cutoff is expected to have widespread consequences in many different aid areas, including within SRHR and equality. Therefore, we are monitoring those areas particularly.
During and after the election debates in the USA, and even continuing thereafter, it has been quite unclear exactly what consequences will result from the aid policy that the new American administration will pursue.
But there is an area where we know it will have dramatic effects, and it is linked to exactly SRHR and equality. We have seen that now, but we have also seen it under virtually all Republican administrations since Ronald Reagan became president.
That is why it is extra important that Sweden continues to be a world-leading actor for equality globally. While the opposition to women's and girls' rights is increasing, Sweden remains a strong voice for all women's and girls' freedom and empowerment and for emphasizing men's and boys' responsibility to participate in the work of change.
According to global statistics from the UN, one in three women has been subjected to sexual or gender-related violence during her life. Every year, 12 million girls are married before they turn 18. These figures are some of the reasons why Sweden is the largest bilateral donor to the UN organization for gender equality and women's empowerment, UN Women.
Sweden's total support of 512 million kronor goes towards supporting the freedom and empowerment of women and girls worldwide. Strengthening women's and girls' full enjoyment of sexual and reproductive health and rights is a prerequisite for increased equality.
A report from the UN shows that 230 million girls and women worldwide have been subjected to female genital mutilation. This is a 15 percent increase compared to data from 2016.
According to WHO, six out of ten unintended pregnancies end in abortion. Deaths in connection with unsafe abortions are one of the most common causes of death among women. Therefore, access to SRHR services such as safe abortions and contraceptives is life-saving for women and girls. This was one of the reasons why the government quickly decided to provide 75 million kronor in extra funds to the activities of the UN Population Fund UNFPA after the USA withdrew its support for the organization earlier this year. The support contributes to maintaining the organization's activities for reduced maternal mortality, including access to safe abortions.
When harsh winds blow, Sweden stands firm on equality. It is a core value.
Lotta Johnsson Fornarve (V)
Mr. Speaker! Thank you, Minister, for further answers!
I am pleased when the Minister says that Sweden shall be a world-leading actor in gender equality work, stand up for women's civil and political rights, and be a strong voice in the world. But unfortunately, one cannot really see this because the gender equality aid is actually decreasing. Even though we give a good deal of money to gender equality, it is actually going in the wrong direction. The facts show this. We allocate less money to gender equality than we did previously, both bilaterally and globally. It is this that makes me concerned.
When it looks the way it does in the world – with increased female genital mutilation, an increased number of unsafe abortions and a lot of such things – this with equality is needed more than ever. With increased equality, the risk of war also decreases, and we get more peaceful, more democratic and prosperous societies. It is truly of great benefit to invest specifically in equality aid.
When aid for equality decreases, this development also stops. When equality is under attack, I mean that Sweden must go first and gather like-minded countries to defend the work for equality within aid. Above all, we must lead by example.
The aid that goes to equality must increase and not decrease. But unfortunately, we see a different development. In monetary terms, the aid that has equality as its main purpose has decreased by more than 2 billion kronor between 2019 and 2024. It is a halving. Sida notes that one does not reach the EU's equality goals but lags behind in comparison with many other donor countries. It is a worrying development. One can hardly be satisfied with this if equality is to be a core value.
According to a survey conducted by the organization Kvinna till Kvinna, one can see, for example, how support for work to abolish specifically gender-related violence against women and girls has decreased, but also the important support for women, peace and security.
It is also noteworthy that the proportion of aid to Ukraine that goes to equality is decreasing drastically. The Minister mentions in his answer that 22.5 million kronor are earmarked for UN Women's work in Ukraine. It is, to say the least, frustrating when the total bilateral aid with equality as a main or partial objective has gone from being 62 percent in 2023 to being only 6 percent in 2024. Thus, over 3 billion of the bilateral aid has no equality objective. In 2024, 94 percent of the bilateral aid was not equality-integrated, even though Ukraine is the only country mentioned in the action plan for women, peace, and security. It states there, among other things, that it will be a priority to contribute to women's active participation in crisis management and in Ukraine's reconstruction work.
This is not sufficient, and it can hardly be something the government is satisfied with if equality is to be a core value. When aid is cut further as a consequence of the government having abandoned the one percent goal for aid, the part intended for equality work will also decrease as a consequence. For 2028, when the economy is expected to have grown, the aid will be approximately 25 billion less than it would have been if Sweden had kept the one percent goal. Sweden will then fall below the EU's recommendations for aid. This has consequences for equality aid.
It is not enough if equality is to be a core value. It is high time that the government reverses the trend, rolls up its sleeves and raises its voice for the rights of women, girls and LGBTQ people globally. Sweden has done it before. We can do it here. We are very good at equality work. Let us show it!
Statsrådet Benjamin Dousa (M)
Mr. Speaker! In addition to the fact that we in Sweden are an important donor to equality initiatives globally, we are also a strong normative voice for the rights of all women and girls. For example, Sweden participated in the EU's negotiating team during the UN Commission on the Status of Women earlier this year.
Despite the increased opposition to issues of equality, one of the most progressive political declarations ever was adopted. Together with the EU and our like-minded partners around the world, we cooperate to strengthen the work for equality and for all women's and girls' freedom and empowerment.
Sweden's UN commitment to equality will be particularly noticeable this year. In 2025, as stated previously, we will hold the chair of the UN Women board. The role as chair provides unique insight, visibility, contact points, and opportunities for strategic influence of UN Women during a critical period over several years ahead.
During its presidency, Sweden will focus on women's and girls' economic empowerment, increased cross-regional cooperation, and increased coherence between UN funds and programs for more effective governance and results at the country level.
In a time of increased opposition to equality issues, Sweden continues to take progressive initiatives together with its Nordic neighbors, the EU and other like-minded countries when it comes to promoting the sexual and reproductive health and rights of women and girls. During the UN Population Commission in April, Sweden and 77 other countries joined a statement on the importance of continuing to work for inclusion and non-discrimination in the UN's initiatives on health and SRHR.
The broad support from like-minded countries demonstrates the consensus that exists regarding the defense of years of effort and gains in the SRHR field. The opposition to SRHR is just palpable in several international contexts. Even today, there are many who want to limit women's and girls' opportunities to decide over their own bodies and their own lives. Therefore, the government has specifically prioritized aid to SRHR.
In 2023, Sweden's SRHR assistance amounted to 2.8 billion. In December 2024, the government decided to also allocate 4.3 billion to a new strategy for health and SRHR for the period 2025–2029. The strategy aims, among other things, to increase access to trained midwives, maternal healthcare, contraceptives, and safe abortions to improve the situation for girls and women in the world. Ultimately, it is about saving the lives of women and girls.
The Government prioritizes the work for equality. Equality contributes to ensuring that the potential of both women and men, as well as girls and boys, can be realized and promoted. Therefore, earlier this year, the Government made a decision regarding the work with gender mainstreaming in the Government Offices: All ministers in the Government are responsible for ensuring that equality and the equality perspective are implemented within all ministers' respective areas of responsibility.
Equality is not just a goal in itself – it is also a central part of democracy in Sweden and in the world. Our government continues to stand up for equality and all women's and girls' freedom and empowerment.
Lotta Johnsson Fornarve (V)
Mr. Speaker! Thank you, Minister, for further answers! I still think the ambition in the Minister's answer is good when it comes to investing in equality and SRHR. But it must also be visible in crowns and öre. As it stands now, it is still a fact that the equality aid is receding. It is going in the wrong direction. We can do better here. As I said, we can do this with equality very well in Sweden.
When equality is under such intense attack as it is, we in Sweden must step up, take on the leadership role, and raise our voices even further. We must ensure that we contribute more financially to equality work specifically. When we invest in equality, we know that it leads to development. Equal societies are also, as I said earlier, much safer societies, more democratic societies, and more prosperous societies.
To build real and sustainable equality, women's active participation is required at all levels of society. Therefore, it is important to be clear about the governance and that the gender perspective truly permeates all areas. I actually think it has become worse since we removed the feminist foreign policy, which was very clear that this was the purpose.
Once again, I want to ask the Minister if he is prepared to take on the leadership role and be leading in the work to develop a common strategy to meet the large cuts that have occurred, primarily through the US's reductions. And will the Swedish government break the downward trend and increase aid for equality? That is the core question: Will we increase the proportion of aid that goes to equality?
Statsrådet Benjamin Dousa (M)
Mr. Speaker! There are several countries right now that are cutting back on their aid. USA is doing it with the most drama and the most media focus, but also countries like Germany, France, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands are now making large cuts in their aid.
No country, at least not a small country like Sweden, will be able to completely cover all the gaps that arise. We would need to put practically our entire state budget on aid alone if we were to cover all the gaps that arise.
We have, however, said that there are three areas that we will follow particularly closely and that we can particularly imagine supporting with extra packages and extra support.
The first is, of course, Ukraine. I have recently come from Ukraine, and there is a shortage of practically everything there, both the purely humanitarian and the more developmental. We must ensure that the civilian population and also the defense forces have electricity, that there are roads and railways so that supplies can be delivered to the front and troops can be moved there, and that they can export their products and keep the state finances together.
The second is the humanitarian aid. The USA accounted for nearly 40 percent of all humanitarian aid in the entire world. When I was in Uganda a few weeks ago, they had already started cutting back on the food rations. In a few weeks, there might be no food left at all in the refugee camp in Uganda. And that is only in Uganda; we have many other countries where they are also cutting back on the food rations right now and where the money might run out.
The third is precisely SRHR. In that area, we knew that this type of message and decision would come if the Republicans won. That is why we moved forward with the extra support of 75 million just for safe abortions. Abortions are one of the most common causes of death among young girls and women.
We will continue to act and work for equality at a political level, both within the UN system and in other systems, but also in pure money.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.