Gender equality, SRHR and the aid effectiveness agenda

The election manifesto commits the party to increased aid and a strengthened UN position, and the party defines itself explicitly as feminist with international solidarity high on the agenda. The party programme establishes that aid shall be given without self-interested reservations and that women's self-determination and sexual and reproductive health are a prerequisite for development. To prioritize SRHR, earmark a share of aid and base decisions on recipients' own priorities thus follows from the plan, even though the earmarking specifically is not mentioned.

• increased aid, strengthened 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.”
• women's reproductive rights»Kvinnors rätt till arbete, självbestämmande och sexuell« (party programme ↗)“Women's right to work, self-determination and sexual”
• aid without self-interest»Internationellt bistånd ska ges till fattiga länder« (party programme ↗)“International aid shall be given to poor countries”

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The plan establishes that girls' and women's rights shall be strengthened globally and that safe abortions shall be a right for women throughout the world, which is the core of the counter-proposal's SRHR demand. The programme adds that development cooperation should be based on developing countries' own resources, which supports the requirement for recipients' priorities. The exact earmarking of ten per cent is not stated in the documents, so the conclusion is derived.

• safe abortions globallydecisive»Säkra aborter måste vara en rättighet för kvinnor i hela världen.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Safe abortions must be a right for women throughout the world.”
• women's bodily self-determination»Vi socialdemokrater står upp för alla kvinnors rätt att bestämma över sin egen kropp.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“We social democrats stand up for all women's right to determine over their own bodies.”
• recipient countries' own priorities»Utvecklingssamarbetet ska bygga på utvecklingsländernas egna resurser och stödja« (party programme ↗)“Development cooperation should be based on developing countries' own resources and support”
• women's rights guide aid»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.”

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 election manifesto wants to develop and strengthen the feminist foreign and development policy and for aid to be guided by poverty reduction without domestic political conditions. The party programme commits Sweden to working actively globally for family planning and reproductive health and for development cooperation to be characterized by responsiveness to the recipient countries' needs. The counter-proposal's requirements for prioritized SRHR and the recipients' own priorities are therefore in line with the plan.

• global work for SRHRdecisive»Sverige ska arbeta aktivt globalt för möjlighet till« (party programme ↗)“Sweden shall work actively globally for access to”
• feminist development policy»utveckla och förstärka Sveriges feministiska utrikes- och utvecklingspolitik.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“develop and strengthen Sweden's feminist foreign and development policy.”
• aid without domestic political conditions»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 per cent of Sweden's gross national income shall continue to go to aid, that aid shall be guided by principles of effectiveness and poverty reduction and shall not be conditioned against Sweden's domestic political interests.”
• responsiveness to the recipient countries»utvecklingssamarbete och skuldavskrivningar ska« (party programme ↗)“development cooperation and debt relief shall”

The Centre Party is an avowed feminist party whose plan wants to constitutionally protect the right to abortion and reproductive health, and the party programme establishes that the struggle against violence and violations of bodily integrity applies regardless of whether it occurs in Sweden or in other countries. That equality and sexual and reproductive health and rights are prioritized throughout development cooperation thus follows from the plan, as does that women's own income in poor countries is a success factor. The exact level of earmarking of aid funds is not addressed, so the position is derived.

• protection for reproductive healthdecisive»grundlagsskydda rätten till abort och reproduktiv hälsa« (2022 manifesto ↗)“constitutionally protect the right to abortion and reproductive health”
• equality also internationally»Det gäller oavsett om det sker i Sverige eller i andra länder« (party programme ↗)“This applies regardless of whether it occurs in Sweden or in other countries”
• women's income in aid»En av framgångsfaktorerna i detta arbete är att människor i fattiga länder, särskilt kvinnor, får möjlighet« (party programme ↗)“One of the success factors in this work is that people in poor countries, especially women, get the opportunity”
• feminist basic stance»Centerpartiet är ett feministiskt parti« (party programme ↗)“The Centre Party is a feminist party”

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 election manifesto establishes that development aid policy shall be reformed with focus on democracy and equality, and the party programme makes sexual and reproductive health and rights a prioritized development aid area while Sweden long-term shall drive abortion rights internationally. The counter-proposal's demand that SRHR be prioritized and earmarked in multilateral aid aligns with this. That the plan sets democracy as development aid's overriding goal and does not state any percentages makes the support inferred.

• equality as development aid focusdecisive»Den svenska biståndspolitiken måste genomgå stora reformer med fokus på demokrati, jämställdhet och minskad korruption.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Swedish development aid policy must undergo major reforms with focus on democracy, equality and reduced corruption.”
• SRHR as human right»Sverige ska arbeta långsiktigt för att rätten till abort erkänns internationellt som en del av de mänskliga rättigheterna.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Sweden shall work long-term for the right to abortion to be recognized internationally as part of human rights.”
• democracy overriding development aid goal»Demokrati ska vara det övergripande målet för utvecklingsbiståndet.« (party programme ↗)“Democracy shall be the overriding goal for development aid.”
• the one-per-cent goal in aid»Därför vill vi att det svenska biståndet ska uppnå till en procent av BNI.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Therefore we want Swedish aid to reach one per cent of GNI.”

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 prioritises women's situation in development cooperation and wants to prevent unwanted pregnancies, but its stated goal is a society where abortions are not sought, and aid should primarily be directed at knowledge transfer and at changing structures that prevent development. An earmarked target of at least ten per cent for SRHR lacks support in the plan and is in tension with the abortion goal. However, the requirement to start from the recipients' priorities has support.

• fewer abortions as a goaldecisive»Målet ska emellertid vara ett samhälle där aborter« (party programme ↗)“The goal shall however be a society where abortions”
• aid as knowledge transfer»bör framför allt inriktas på att överföra kunskap« (party programme ↗)“should primarily be directed at transferring knowledge”
• equality as a goal and means»Att främja jämställdhet mellan kvinnor och män samt att förbättra kvinnors villkor« (party programme ↗)“To promote equality between women and men and to improve women's conditions”
• prevent unwanted pregnancies»förebyggande arbete minska oönskade graviditeter« (party programme ↗)“preventive work reduce unwanted pregnancies”

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The plan explicitly rejects volume and disbursement targets in aid and wants to replace the one per cent target with a budget framework based on results. It also says that Swedish interests and values should to a greater extent guide the choice of aid measures, which is the opposite of letting beneficiaries' priorities guide. An earmarked target of at least ten per cent for SRHR therefore conflicts with the plan's direction, even though democracy and human rights shall be prioritized.

• results before disbursement targetsdecisive»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 shall be based on an assessment of what budget is reasonable when aid is weighed against other needs, and based on what results are deemed to be achievable, rather than on a disbursement target.”
• no volume targets in aid»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 framework for aid that creates predictability and results focus”
• Swedish values guide aid»Svenska intressen och värderingar om demokrati, rättsstat och individuell frihet ska i högre grad styra valet av biståndsinsatser.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Swedish interests and values concerning 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, organizations and thematic areas where it does the most good”

The plan's core aid commitment is that aid should be significantly reduced and valued according to effect, not according to how much money is allocated. To earmark at least ten per cent of aid for SRHR is the opposite: volume-driven prioritisation without results linkage, while funds should be reallocated to Swedish welfare. The plan's concern for vulnerable women in repressed parts of the world is insufficient to support an earmarked target.

• significantly reduced aiddecisive»Överlag måste det internationella biståndet kraftigt minska och insatserna effektiviseras.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Overall, international aid must be significantly reduced and initiatives be made more efficient.”
• effect before allocation levels»Biståndet ska som alla andra budgetposter värderas utifrån den effekt det får och inte hur mycket pengar som läggs på området.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Aid should, like all other budget items, be valued according to the effect it produces and not how much money is spent on the area.”
• Swedish welfare over aid»Minska svenskt bistånd till förmån för svensk välfärd och trygghet« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Reduce Swedish aid in favour of Swedish welfare and security”
• support for vulnerable women and children»i övrigt för att förbättra utsatta barn och ansatta kvinnors livssituation i fattiga eller förtryckta delar av världen« (2022 manifesto ↗)“otherwise to improve vulnerable children's and affected women's living situation in poor or repressed parts of the world”