Response to interpellation 2025/26:264 on the UN80 process
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 UN80 process and its impact on the UN's mandate. M believes that Sweden defends international law and that equality and SRHR are clear priorities in the government's foreign and aid policy 1. M argues that administrative reforms are necessary for efficiency 1 and that Sweden is a generous donor that clarifies its support for UN Women and UNFPA 2. M emphasizes that the important thing is that the mandates remain 3 and that Sweden has shown leadership in defending the rules-based world order 4. S argues that the process is proceeding too quickly without sufficient parliamentary influence 5 and that a merger risks weakening the normative work 5. S believes that Sweden has a special responsibility to influence the process to ensure rights for girls and women 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.
Utrikesministern Maria Malmer Stenergard (M)
Mr. Speaker! Linnéa Wickman has asked me how I and the government intend to ensure that Sweden stands up for the UN's normatively important mandate, particularly regarding gender equality, women's rights, and SRHR, not being weakened as a result of budget cuts or organizational changes.
Linnéa Wickman has further asked how I and the government are working concretely to ensure that any mergers or restructurings of UN bodies, such as UN Women and UNFPA, do not lead to hollowed-out mandates, reduced independence, or weakened capacity when it comes to carrying out normative and operational work that increases equality.
Linnéa Wickman has also asked what clear positions Sweden is driving in the UN together with like-minded countries to ensure that human rights, equality, and SRHR continue to be treated as core mandates in a potentially reformed UN system.
Linnéa Wickman has also asked how I and the government ensure that civil society organizations and other relevant actors are given the opportunity for insight and dialogue in the work of developing Sweden's positions in the UN80 process.
In conclusion, Linnéa Wickman has asked how the government and I assess the risks that extensive cuts within the UN system could have disproportionate consequences for rights and equality work in the world, and what measures the government, in that case, intends to take for Sweden as a member state.
Sweden defends international law and the rules-based world order, including the UN's important normative mandate and human rights. Equality and women and girls' enjoyment of human rights and sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) are clear priorities in the government's foreign and aid policy.
The global changes, Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine and humanitarian crises have hit individuals and countries hard. The UN as an organization and its funding and operations have also been affected.
The Government's view is that budgetary, administrative and operational reforms are necessary for the UN's mandate to continue to be implemented effectively. The Government therefore welcomes the UN Secretary-General's reform initiative FN80.
Sweden clearly stands up for the UN's normative mandate in the discussions regarding UN80. During 2025, Sweden held central roles as chair of UN Women and vice-chair of the Fifth Committee of the UN General Assembly, which negotiates the UN's budget.
It is a priority for the government that the reforms lead to that the UN's normative mandate and capacity to promote human rights and equality – including sexual and reproductive health and rights and women, peace and security – are protected.
Regarding the Secretary-General's proposal to carry out an analysis of a possible merger of UN Women and the UN Population Fund UNFPA, Sweden has emphasized that the goal must be to protect the UN's mandate, operations, and funding in the areas of gender equality and SRHR.
The government, including through various departments and foreign agencies, has ongoing dialogue with representatives from civil society. Not least regarding human rights, equality and SRHR, civil society's experiences of the UN at the national level are important for the FN80 process. Sweden has also, together with a broader circle of like-minded countries, conveyed the importance of including civil society to the UN Secretary-General and other UN representatives involved in the reform process.
I particularly welcome continued close cooperation with representatives from Swedish civil society, who have valuable experiences and expertise to share.
Linnéa Wickman (S)
Mr. Speaker! I would like to begin by thanking the Minister for Foreign Affairs for her answer to my questions.
The interpellation and the debate are fundamentally about what the UN's work for equality and sexual and reproductive health and rights should look like moving forward. What responsibility does Sweden take in the process that is now taking place in the UN, and how do we actively influence the work?
The ongoing UN80 process, or the FN80 process in Swedish, which aims to reform and partially streamline the UN, has not been up for debate in the chamber of the Riksdag. Nor has it been something that we have discussed in the Committee on Foreign Affairs. The Riksdag's oversight regarding which positions Sweden takes and what work is currently taking place in the UN has therefore simply been limited. At the same time, the process is moving forward rapidly.
This debate is important, because it allows the government to clarify its positions. Let me be clear: There may be reasons why the UN needs to be reformed. The UN could work more effectively and become better equipped to deliver in a time of historically many parallel crises. In an ideal world, this would have been the only starting point for the review that is now underway. But, Mr. Speaker, that is not the world we live in.
This process is currently ongoing at the same time as the UN is in an acute funding crisis as a result of member states not paying and contributing as they should. The Trump administration's active work to undermine the UN both economically and politically is a clear example.
At the same time, we see an organized resistance from a global opposition where the rights of girls, women, and hbtqi-persons are being undermined. It is authoritarian and conservative forces that unite in their resistance and their ambition to turn back the clock, and the UN is one of the central arenas where this tug-of-war is now taking place.
The fact that agreements such as the Beijing Consensus, which could be adopted 30 years ago, could not be adopted today, I think is a telling example given the time we live in and the challenges that exist.
Since the process in the UN that we are talking about does not occur in a vacuum, I want to focus on one of the proposals that are on the table and being discussed, namely a merger of UN Women and UNFPA, the UN Population Fund. These are two organizations that carry out the UN's global work and efforts for equality and SRHR and which are absolutely crucial for this. For that very reason, the organizations are also politically vulnerable.
As late as 2023, an independent evaluation concluded that the disadvantages of a merger far outweigh any potential advantages and that it is rather the case that the reform needs exist in other parts of the UN system. I therefore think, first and foremost, that it is good that the Foreign Minister in his response says that the government does not want to see changed mandates.
The risk is obvious that the normative work for equality and SRHR will actually be weakened if the mandate is put up for a vote and changed.
In a process like this, which is so political, good intentions are not enough. Therefore, I request even more concrete statements from the Minister for Foreign Affairs. What is Sweden doing now, individually and together with others, to influence when it comes to the analysis that exists and the process that is ongoing, which will lay the foundation for what happens in the coming months? I also wonder how the Minister for Foreign Affairs and the government themselves view the merger that may take place.
Utrikesministern Maria Malmer Stenergard (M)
Mr. Speaker! Thanks to Linnéa Wickman for an extremely urgent interpellation!
Since the government took office, we have been crystal clear that equality is a genuine Swedish core value. In an increasingly turbulent world, where global resistance against equality and human rights is increasing, we continue to stand up for the world's women and girls. We do this not only because it is right and just, but also because what we do today lays the foundation for future generations. I will never accept a new normal state where daughters have fewer rights than their mothers had.
Lack of equality is harmful. In the worst cases, it can even mean death for women and girls. It is vital that women's and girls' sexual and reproductive health and rights are defended. Every human being should have the right to decide over their own future and to make their own choices.
Safeguarding and promoting these norms and principles is a central task for the entire Ministry for Foreign Affairs. It also permeates foreign policy. In recent years, this work has become more difficult but therefore also more urgent.
The Ministry for Foreign Affairs and the foreign agencies are daily engaged in the UN's normative and operational bodies. We are clear about where we stand. We work with like-minded countries within the UN system to defend established norms and agreements. All countries in the UN organization must contribute to creating a cooperation and system that uses available resources as effectively and responsibly as possible.
When it comes to precisely the two different organizations, a discussion is currently ongoing. I had the privilege of personally making a field visit to Jordan just before Christmas together with the head of UN Women, Sima Bahous. We discussed this matter. I note that the important thing is that the mandates remain. Then perhaps the organization itself, how one chooses to actually organize this, is not the decisive factor. It is about being as efficient as possible. This is part of the larger UN80 reform process, which I believe is completely necessary to maintain the UN's legitimacy in a world where there is increasing competition and also a greater questioning of the UN.
The UN is more important than ever, and then one must be able to deliver on the mandates one has. It will be interesting to see what is concluded in this review and what proposals will be put forward. But we will stand up for the fact that the important missions shall remain.
Linnéa Wickman (S)
Mr. Speaker! Thanks to the Minister for Foreign Affairs for the detailed answer!
I would like to pick up where I finished my previous contribution. It concerns what Sweden is doing in this process based on the analysis being made and the work that is ongoing.
It is a highly political process, and of course, there are different agendas. Sweden's interest is then to stand up for equality and for not changing the organizations' basic mandates, even if the so-called organizational form is not the important thing. I would still have liked an even clearer answer on how Sweden is actively trying to influence the process right now. Just this week, meetings are being held in both the UN Women board and UNFPA's to, among other things, what I understand, discuss this question. It is in those rooms that the question will be decided, and it will affect which formal decisions are made further ahead.
Thousands of organizations around the world that every day work to provide contraceptives, safe abortion care, maternal health, and safe spaces or protected rooms for girls, women, and hbtqi-people have raised a number of questions in this process – also in a letter to the UN member states, including Sweden. It is a number of concrete questions that they wish the member states, which safeguard the organizations' work and mandate, should bring into the process and influence it with.
It is questions such as: What evidence is there that a merger could actually strengthen and not weaken access to contraceptives, maternal care, and safe abortion care? How can access to care and support be secured in low-income countries and in humanitarian crises if mandates and structures are changed? How can the different roles that UN Women and UNFPA have today be preserved if they are merged? Why have no other reform initiatives been put forward regarding strengthening coordination and efficiency? One might wonder especially since the idea of a merger could be rejected as early as 2023. How shall it be ensured that funding regarding gender equality and people's right to decide over their own body and health does not decrease in a new structure, especially in a situation where many donor countries are cutting their aid?
It is not about drawing a new organizational chart, but it is about whether girls and women get access to contraceptives, women get access to maternity care and hbtqi people get access to care, protection and rights in many countries where they are restricted or even criminalized.
My question to the Minister for Foreign Affairs is: Has Sweden raised these issues during the meetings that have taken place during this week? Has Sweden demanded clear answers to the questions that have been asked? It concerns how funding, mandates, and operations can be protected. Has one tried to influence the investigation that is currently ongoing?
Here I want to mean that Sweden, together with other Nordic countries and other like-minded countries, has a great responsibility and a special role. We have over time invested many resources precisely to strengthen equality and SRHR in the world. Now it is crucial that we contribute to ensuring that work is not dismantled in an exceptionally difficult time.
I want to assert that we have a special responsibility to influence the process and therefore look forward to the Foreign Minister's continued response.
Utrikesministern Maria Malmer Stenergard (M)
Mr. Speaker! I first intended to touch upon the aid side. Sweden is one of the most generous donors of development aid and humanitarian aid. During the mandate period, the government has reformed the aid to cover the most critical needs and the government's main priorities with a focus on strong support for Ukraine.
In a time of difficult trade-offs and necessary reprioritizations due to new security threats and humanitarian crises, the government continues to prioritize UN Women and UNFPA. In December 2025, the government entered into new multi-year agreements with UN Women and UNFPA. The agreements clarify Sweden's political and financial support as well as our expectations of the organizations.
Sweden's support promotes equality and women's economic empowerment – which has also been a focus during our presidency – and counters maternal mortality and gender-based violence. Through our commitment, Sweden contributes to realizing women's and girls' right to decide over their own lives and bodies. In recent years, in addition to extensive core funding to the organizations, the government has supported UN Women's activities in Ukraine and UNFPA's life-saving humanitarian activities in Gaza, Sudan, and Ukraine.
Through active participation in the organizations' boards, we have also contributed to necessary reforms for cost savings and increased efficiency at the national level. It is the government's conviction that equality and human rights, including SRHR, are prerequisites for people and societies to reach their full potential.
So, to Linnéa Wickman's question. In the discussion currently taking place, we have emphasized that it is important to take into account that the mandates have different focuses, just as Linnéa Wickman has pointed out. UN Women has a focus on equality and on women's rights and empowerment. UNFPA, on the other hand, has a focus on SRHR for all individuals and on population issues.
The next step is for the UN to present a more concrete proposal based on an analysis of the opportunities and risks of a merger. We will be given access to the UN's analysis and proposal and will then be able to take a position on the content and the way forward. I am also happy to do this in dialogue with the Riksdag.
Sweden will be actively involved in the follow-up of the evaluation of the UN Secretary-General's reform proposals, including in UN Women and in UNFPA.
It is also worth noting that both UN Women and UNFPA are actively involved in other important ongoing UN reforms. Both organizations have, for example, implemented reforms to increase cooperation and to reduce overlaps within the UN's development system. The organizations have also made decisions to move operations from expensive New York to Nairobi, which is cost-saving and promotes efficiency and also better results at the country level.
Linnéa Wickman (S)
Mr. Speaker! What is important in this debate and what I take away is that the Foreign Minister says that Sweden will safeguard the core mandates. However, I would like to ask a straightforward question here in my final contribution about what the government's red lines are regarding the merger of UN Women and UNFPA. The way forward looks quite difficult in concrete terms when it comes to protecting these mandates, for example, if one organization were to be absorbed into the other – or how one would proceed practically if a merger were actually to be carried out.
I would therefore like to ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs if she can promise that Sweden will not contribute to any change in the organizations' mandates. There is a great risk that the work will be weakened if these are changed because the world unfortunately looks so very conservative today compared to, for example, 30 years ago, when we could make important decisions to move forward in the work for girls' and women's rights.
Sweden has been a long-standing donor to UN Women and UNFPA, and it is important that we now show leadership. If we do not do so, if we are not active in the ongoing process, we cannot expect anyone else to do it and stand up for these normatively important issues.
I look forward to the Riksdag and the Committee on Foreign Affairs being able to continue the dialogue with the Minister for Foreign Affairs on this issue going forward.
Utrikesministern Maria Malmer Stenergard (M)
Mr. Speaker! Linnéa Wickman asks about red lines. I would say that the whole world is blinking red. The work for the rights of women, girls, and hbtqi persons is regressing in many parts of the world. I am very grateful that Sweden stands so united and strong in its voice for the rights of women, girls, and hbtqi persons. It is truly a voice we must make use of.
It is important to show leadership, and we have truly done that as chair of UN Women. During this year, it has been a bit special because a multi-year plan for the operations moving forward has been adopted. There, we have been able to help set a clear Swedish touch, which I also believe there is strong support for in the Riksdag.
Investing in human rights and equality is an effective way to contribute to a peaceful, just, and democratic global development. Sweden, of course, cannot alone defend the rules-based world order, full respect for human rights, and global equality. We must work together with other like-minded countries in the Nordic region, in the EU, and around the world within the UN and other international organizations. We must also, presumably, create the new coalitions and forms of cooperation that the new times demand.
The government will therefore continue to seek partnerships with representatives from both civil society and the business community. As Foreign Minister, it is my mission to safeguard Sweden's foreign policy interests, and equality is a core value for us and a clear such interest. Equality is both a goal and a means for democratic economic development. Fundamentally, it is a matter of realizing the full potential of all people.
I would like to thank you very much for this very important debate and look forward to returning to the Riksdag for continued discussion.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.