Support for information, peace movement and trade union organisations

The plan establishes that the world needs to move towards peace and disarmament and that Sweden should be a voice for peace, not for increased militarization, and that the conditions for popular education, trade unions, and study circles should be secured. Restoring withdrawn support for civil society's information activities and for peace and disarmament organizations follows from these commitments, especially when the debate on security is most needed.

• peace and disarmamentdecisive»Världen behöver gå mot fred, nedrustning« (party programme ↗)“The world needs to move towards peace, disarmament”
• voice for peace against militarization»Vänsterpartiet anser att Sverige ska vara en röst för fred och rättvisa, inte för ökad militarisering.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“The Left Party believes that Sweden should be a voice for peace and justice, not for increased militarization.”
• independent popular education»Vi driver på för villkor som säkrar en stark« (party programme ↗)“We push for conditions that secure a strong”
• protect popular education»Därför behöver vi också värna studieförbundens ställning.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Therefore we also need to protect the position of study circles.”

The party programme makes military disarmament a fundamental task for international cooperation and requires active support for trade union organizing in poor countries, while a strong civil society is seen as democracy's foundation and civic education as democracy-strengthening. Restoring the withdrawn support for civil society's information activities and for peace and disarmament organizations follows from these commitments. However, the forms of support in the aid budget are not explicitly mentioned.

• support for trade union organizingdecisive»facklig organisering i de fattiga länderna.« (party programme ↗)“trade union organizing in poor countries.”
• disarmament as a task»Militär nedrustning är en fundamental uppgift för det internationella samarbetet.« (party programme ↗)“Military disarmament is a fundamental task for international cooperation.”
• strong civil society»Ett starkt och levande civilsamhälle är demokratins underbyggnad.« (party programme ↗)“A strong and vibrant civil society is democracy's foundation.”
• civic education strengthens democracy»Folkbildning ger stark demokrati och möjligheter till personlig utveckling vid sidan av den formella utbildningen.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Civic education provides strong democracy and opportunities for personal development alongside formal education.”

The party programme wants to invest in preventive and peace-promoting measures and in actors working with peaceful conflict resolution, explicitly through civil society organisations, and that Sweden takes the initiative for international disarmament. The election manifesto wants to ratify the nuclear weapons ban. To restore withdrawn support for information activities and for peace and disarmament organisations follows directly from these commitments.

• support for peace actorsdecisive»Vi ska satsa på att investera i förebyggande och fredsfrämjande insatser, samt aktörer som arbetar med fredlig konflikthantering.« (party programme ↗)“We shall invest in preventive and peace-promoting measures, and actors working with peaceful conflict resolution.”
• civil society's peace work»Sådana initiativ behöver stödjas och utvecklas, bland annat genom förebyggande diplomati och fredsbyggande insatser av det civila samhällets organisationer.« (party programme ↗)“Such initiatives need to be supported and developed, among other things through preventive diplomacy and peace-building efforts by civil society organisations.”
• disarmament and nuclear weapons ban»ratificera konventionen om kärnvapenförbud och arbeta för ett totalförbud mot att använda autonoma vapensystem.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“ratify the convention on the nuclear weapons ban and work for a total ban on autonomous weapons systems.”
• initiative for disarmament»Sverige ska ta initiativ till internationell nedrustning« (party programme ↗)“Sweden shall take the initiative for international disarmament”

The election manifesto establishes that independent popular education has great significance in times when democratic values are questioned and that Sweden must become even more transparent. The party programme wants to finance civil society's infrastructure and protects its independent role. To restore withdrawn support for civil society's information activities and to peace organisations follows from these principles, even if these specific appropriations are not addressed in the plan.

• independent popular educationdecisive»En fristående folkbildning har mycket stor betydelse i tider då demokratiska värden ifrågasätts.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Independent popular education has great significance in times when democratic values are questioned.”
• finance civil society's infrastructure»Politiken kan stödja civilsamhället genom att involvera det i fler processer, finansiera dess infrastruktur« (party programme ↗)“Politics can support civil society by involving it in more processes, financing its infrastructure”
• increased transparency»Sverige ska bli ännu mer transparent.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Sweden must become even more transparent.”
• civil society's independence»Det civila samhället måste ha en självständig roll« (party programme ↗)“Civil society must have an independent role”

The plan takes no explicit position on what the committee actually decided — often because the committee's reason was procedural. The stance is derived and fully cited, but it does not show the party broke a commitment.

The plan wants to improve civil society financing with long-term government grants and sees democracy's lifeblood in more people scrutinizing and discussing society's shortcomings, while also demanding greater transparency in how aid money is used. A restored information support serves precisely insight and debate, so the demand is supported. The plan says nothing about support to peace and disarmament organizations, however, and its own line is rearmament, which makes the basis weak.

• long-term government grantsdecisive»Vi vill fortsätta förbättra civilsamhällets finansiering genom både bredare skatteavdrag för gåvor och långsiktiga statsbidrag.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“We want to continue improving civil society financing through both broader tax deductions for donations and long-term government grants.”
• scrutiny and debate»Demokratins livsluft är att fler granskar, diskuterar och pekar ut samhällets brister.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Democracy's lifeblood is more people scrutinizing, discussing and pointing out society's shortcomings.”
• transparency in aid»Samtidigt finns i dag allvarliga problem med bristande öppenhet och korruption med svenska biståndspengar.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“At the same time there are today serious problems with a lack of transparency and corruption involving Swedish aid money.”
• civil society's independence»Det offentliga ska i sin samverkan med civilsamhället respektera« (party programme ↗)“The public sector shall in its cooperation with civil society respect”

The plan takes no explicit position on what the committee actually decided — often because the committee's reason was procedural. The stance is derived and fully cited, but it does not show the party broke a commitment.

The plan gives public education an indispensable role for a living democracy, requires independent evaluation and transparency in aid and establishes that development cooperation can contribute to peaceful development. Restoring support for civil society's information activities and to peace and disarmament organizations follows from these principles, but the plan says nothing about precisely these contributions and support is therefore weakly derived.

• public education's roledecisive»I detta sammanhang spelar folkbildningen en omistlig roll.« (party programme ↗)“In this context, public education plays an indispensable role.”
• transparency and evaluation of aid»utvärderingar av biståndet ska ske.« (party programme ↗)“evaluations of aid shall take place.”
• aid promotes peace»Utvecklingssamarbete kan bidra till fredlig utveckling« (party programme ↗)“Development cooperation can contribute to peaceful development”
• promote voluntary engagement»främja människors frivilliga engagemang« (party programme ↗)“promote people's voluntary engagement”

The plan takes no explicit position on what the committee actually decided — often because the committee's reason was procedural. The stance is derived and fully cited, but it does not show the party broke a commitment.

The plan wants to make aid narrower and more focused on interventions where Sweden makes the most difference, with a larger humanitarian share and a budget determined by reasonableness and results rather than disbursement targets. It also notes that aid in itself does not drive societal development. Restoring withdrawn support for information activities and peace organizations therefore runs counter to the plan's priorities.

• narrower and smarter aiddecisive»Moderaterna vill reformera biståndet och göra det mer fokuserat på de länder och insatser där Sverige kan göra mest nytta.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“The Moderates want to reform aid and make it more focused on the countries and interventions where Sweden can make the most difference.”
• humanitarian aid is prioritized»Öka andelen humanitärt bistånd i den svenska biståndsbudgeten« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Increase the share of humanitarian aid in the Swedish aid budget”
• results over volume»Biståndets storlek ska bygga på en bedömning av vilken budget som är rimlig när biståndet ställs mot andra behov, samt utifrån vilka resultat som bedöms kunna uppnås, snarare än på ett utbetalningsmål.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“The size of aid should be based on an assessment of what budget is reasonable when aid is measured against other needs, and based on what results are judged to be achievable, rather than on a disbursement target.”
• aid is not an end in itself»Men bistånd i sig driver inte samhällelig utveckling.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“But aid in itself does not drive societal development.”

The election manifesto wants to focus aid on direct efforts for basic needs and humanitarian disaster assistance and significantly reduce appropriations in favor of Swedish welfare and security. Restoring withdrawn support to civil society's information and advocacy activities and to peace and disarmament organizations contradicts this prioritization. The plan also requires clear results for every public investment.

• focus on disaster assistancedecisive»Fokusera biståndet till humanitärt katastrofbistånd« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Focus aid to humanitarian disaster assistance”
• reduced aid»Minska svenskt bistånd till förmån för svensk välfärd och trygghet« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Reduce Swedish aid in favor of Swedish welfare and security”
• direct efforts, not advocacy»Sverigedemokraterna vill att biståndet fokuseras kring direkta insatser för att tillgodose grundläggande behov och insatser vid katastrofer och krig« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Sweden Democrats want aid to focus on direct efforts to meet basic needs and efforts in disasters and wars”
• results requirements for investments»Begära tydliga resultat för varje offentlig satsning« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Demand clear results for every public investment”