The National Audit Office's examination of humanitarian aid

The plan wants to see increased and solidary aid and places international solidarity high, while at the same time consistently protecting independent popular movements and civil society ahead of political steering. The counter-proposal's warning that efficiency becomes a pretext for increased political steering, and the demand that local organizations get better access to financing, lie in line with this. The plan however says nothing about reporting back on a Swedish National Audit Office review.

• increased aid and stronger UNdecisive»Sverige ska öka biståndet, stärka FN och skriva under kärnvapenkonventionen.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Sweden shall increase aid, strengthen the UN and sign the nuclear weapons convention.”
• solidary aid»solidariskt bistånd och rättvisa handelsvillkor.« (party programme ↗)“solidary aid and fair trade relations.”
• international solidarity»Därför är vi en rörelse som sätter den internationella solidariteten högt på dagordningen.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Therefore we are a movement that places international solidarity high on the agenda.”

The plan requires a solidaristic development aid policy to combat poverty and holds fast to the one per cent target, with poor people's perspective at the centre. That aid shall go where needs are greatest and that local organisations shall get better access to financing follows from that commitment. The warning against increased political control is in line with the plan's view of aid as solidaristic rather than instrumental.

• solidarisk biståndspolitikdecisive»Solidarisk biståndspolitik för att bekämpa fattigdom, minska klyftor, stärka demokratin« (party programme ↗)“Solidaristic development aid policy to combat poverty, reduce gaps, strengthen democracy”
• enprocentmålet»Enprocentmål för biståndet.« (party programme ↗)“One per cent target for aid.”
• behovsstyrt bistånd»Fattiga människors perspektiv och kvinnor och barns rättigheter ska vara i centrum.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Poor people's perspective and women's and children's rights shall be at the centre.”
• fattigdomsbekämpning»Arbetet för att minska fattigdomen måste fortsätta.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Work to reduce poverty must continue.”

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 counter-proposal warns that efficiency improvements in humanitarian aid become a pretext for increased political control and wants local organizations to get better access to financing. The plan demands that aid be guided by efficiency and poverty reduction and not conditioned against Sweden's domestic political interests, and that civil society in other countries be supported. The demands thus follow from the plan's aid view.

• untied and efficient aiddecisive»att mer än 1 procent av Sveriges bruttonationalinkomst fortsatt ska gå till bistånd, att biståndet ska styras av principer om effektivitet och fattigdomsbekämpning och inte villkoras mot Sveriges inrikespolitiska intressen.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“that more than 1 percent of Sweden's gross national income continues to go to aid, that aid shall be guided by principles of efficiency and poverty reduction and not conditioned against Sweden's domestic political interests.”
• support for local civil society»att främja fredsbyggande och dialog och stötta civilsamhället och försvarare av fri- och« (party programme ↗)“promote peacebuilding and dialogue and support civil society and defenders of freedom and”
• aid's poverty reduction goal»Det svenska biståndet ska utgå från målet om att bidra till att lyfta människor och« (party programme ↗)“Swedish aid shall be based on the goal of contributing to lifting people and”
• long-term conditions for civil society»från det offentliga. Stöd och villkor för civilsamhället måste vara långsiktiga och tydliga.« (party programme ↗)“from the public. Support and conditions for civil society must be long-term and clear.”

The plan gives civil society an independent role and says that the task of politics is to remove barriers and clear the way for its development force, and that power should be moved closer to those affected. Local organizations in crises getting better access to financing, and that efficiency does not become increased political control, follows from these principles. However, the plan does not directly address the governance of humanitarian aid.

• civil society's own forcedecisive»Politikens uppgift är att riva hinder och röja väg för denna utvecklingskraft.« (party programme ↗)“The task of politics is to remove barriers and clear the way for this development force.”
• decisions near those affected»Decentralisering handlar om att flytta makten närmare människors vardag.« (party programme ↗)“Decentralization is about moving power closer to people's everyday lives.”
• arm's length distance»Politiken ska bidra till goda förutsättningar men hålla armlängds avstånd.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Politics should contribute to good conditions but keep arm's length distance.”
• global responsibility for development»Fred, skyddet av mänskliga rättigheter och hållbar utveckling är hela världens ansvar.« (party programme ↗)“Peace, protection of human rights and sustainable development are the responsibility of the whole world.”

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 counter-proposal warns that efficiency becomes a pretext for increased political steering of aid. The plan instead requires major reforms of aid policy with democracy, gender equality and reduced corruption as guiding goals, thus more political direction, not less. The demand for localization is closer to the plan's support for democratic forces on the ground.

• reformed aiddecisive»Den svenska biståndspolitiken måste genomgå stora reformer med fokus på demokrati, jämställdhet och minskad korruption.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Swedish aid policy must undergo major reforms with a focus on democracy, gender equality and reduced corruption.”
• democracy as aid goal»Demokrati ska vara det övergripande målet för utvecklingsbiståndet.« (party programme ↗)“Democracy shall be the overarching goal for development aid.”
• transparency and anti-corruption»Samtidigt finns i dag allvarliga problem med bristande öppenhet och korruption med svenska biståndspengar.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“At the same time, there are serious problems today with lack of transparency and corruption with Swedish aid money.”
• value-driven aid»Ett värderingsstyrt, generöst och effektivt bistånd handlar om solidaritet och ansvarstagande för vår omvärld.« (party programme ↗)“A value-driven, generous and efficient aid means solidarity and responsibility-taking for our world.”

The plan wants aid to strengthen civil societies and spread power and resources, and wants the individual person's situation to stand in focus. The counter-proposal's demand that local organizations get better access to financing follows from that. The plan at the same time requires clear instruments for follow-up and independent evaluations, which supports the demand for a unified reporting of the review's findings.

• stronger civil societiesdecisive»civila samhällen och större spridning av makt och resurser främjas förutsättningarna för en« (party programme ↗)“civil societies and greater spread of power and resources advance the preconditions for a”
• follow-up of aid»Det måste finnas tydliga instrument för styrning, samordning och uppföljning av biståndet.« (party programme ↗)“There must be clear instruments for governance, coordination and follow-up of aid”
• independent evaluation»Oberoende utvärderingar av biståndet ska ske. Detta gäller även för de multilaterala« (party programme ↗)“Independent evaluations of aid shall occur. This also applies to the multilateral”
• the person at focus for aid»Den enskilda människans situation måste vara i fokus för detta arbete.« (party programme ↗)“The individual person's situation must be in focus for this work”

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 explicitly states that Swedish interests and values shall guide the choice of aid measures to a greater extent and that aid shall be focused where it does the most good. The counter-proposal's main objection is that efficiency shall not become a pretext for increased political control, which conflicts precisely with that commitment. That the share of humanitarian aid shall increase, the plan shares, but the main requirement is rejected.

• political control of aiddecisive»Svenska intressen och värderingar om demokrati, rättsstat och individuell frihet ska i högre grad styra valet av biståndsinsatser.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Swedish interests and values on democracy, rule of law and individual freedom shall to a greater extent guide the choice of aid measures.”
• focused aid»Fokusera det svenska biståndet till de länder, organisationer och tematiska områden där det gör störst nytta« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Focus Swedish aid to the countries, organisations and thematic areas where it does the most good”
• results focus ahead of payment targets»Avskaffa enprocentmålet och ersätta det med en fyraårig budgetram för biståndet som skapar förutsägbarhet och resultatfokus« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Abolish the one per cent target and replace it with a four-year budget frame for aid that creates predictability and results focus”
• larger humanitarian share»Öka andelen humanitärt bistånd i den svenska biståndsbudgeten« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Increase the share of humanitarian aid in the Swedish development aid budget”

The plan requires that aid be distributed based on reciprocity in relation to Sweden's interests, conditioned by agreements on recipient cooperation and directed towards predetermined goals. The counter-proposal's warning that efficiency improvements lead to increased political control thus goes against the plan, which explicitly wants more political control of aid. The plan also wants to reduce aid in favour of Swedish welfare.

• aid according to Swedish interestsdecisive»Bistånd ska också fördelas utifrån en ömsesidighet i förhållande till Sveriges intressen.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Aid shall also be distributed based on reciprocity in relation to Sweden's interests.”
• conditioned aid»Som regel villkora bilateralt bistånd med avtal om mottagandesamverkan« (2022 manifesto ↗)“As a rule, condition bilateral aid with agreements on recipient cooperation”
• results-based aid»Men biståndsanslag måste bättre kunna följas ända till slutmottagaren och fördelas utifrån konkreta resultat utifrån i förväg fastställda mål.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“But aid appropriations must be better traceable all the way to the final recipient and distributed based on concrete results according to predetermined goals.”
• reduced aid»Minska svenskt bistånd till förmån för svensk välfärd och trygghet« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Reduce Swedish aid in favour of Swedish welfare and security”