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The 2030 Agenda with its 17 global goals for sustainable development is a unique agreement between the nations of the world about eradicating poverty and creating a sustainable development globally. Sweden and the EU have through the agenda and previous commitments promised that all policies should be coherent with, and not go against, the work for a sustainable development in the world.

Civil society has an important role in advocating and pushing the leaders of the world to go from promises to action. CONCORD Sweden monitors how well Sweden and the EU live up to their promises. We also give recommendations about what policies are needed to most efficiently achieve a sustainable development built on human rights.

CONCORD Sweden and CONCORD Europe have published several reports on the issue, find some of them in English below:

CIVIL SOCIETY SPOTLIGHT REPORT on Sweden’s implementation of the 2030 agenda, recommendations and review of actions taken ahead of High-level Political Forum 2021 (2021)

In this report, we examine Sweden’s implementation of the 2030 Agenda with a focus on how Swedish policy affects poverty reduction, human rights and sustainable development outside Sweden’s borders. It is CONCORD Sweden’s joint spotlight report to Sweden’s voluntary report on the global follow-up of the 2030 Agenda.

We have chosen to examine the government’s implementation of the 2030 Agenda based on three aspects:

1. Thematic areas where we see that the government has high ambitions to be a global actor for change.

2. Thematic conflicts of interests where Swedish policy affects human rights and poverty reduction outside Sweden’s borders.

3. Sweden’s contribution to financing the implementation of the agenda globally.

Champions to be? Making the 2030 Agenda a reality (2017) – This report examines the implementation of the 2030 Agenda in Brazil, Colombia, Germany, Liberia, South Africa, Sweden, Tanzania, Timor-Leste and Tunisia, as well as gives key recommendations for the future. The countries are part of the High-Level Group that the Swedish prime minister and heads of state and government from the other eight countries set up in 2015. The group committed itself to leading efforts to implement the 2030 Agenda globally, at all levels of society. This is the second review of the work of the group.

A 10 point roadmap for Europe – on the role of the private sector in development (2017) – In this report, CONCORD Europe suggests ten steps European politicians need to take in order to ensure that the private sector plays a positive role in sustainable global development.

Sustainable development – the stakes could not be higher (2016) – This report from CONCORD Europe analyzes the EU’s implementation of the 2030 Agenda and policy coherence on sustainable development by showing examples of how EU acts within different political issues, for instance migration and economic policies.

Champions to be? Making the 2030 Agenda a reality (2016) – This report examines the implementation of the 2030 Agenda in Brazil, Colombia, Germany, Liberia, South Africa, Sweden, Tanzania, Timor-Leste and Tunisia, as well as gives key recommendations for the future. The countries are part of the High-Level Group that the Swedish prime minister and heads of state and government from the other eight countries set up in 2015. The group committed itself to leading efforts to implement the 2030 Agenda globally, at all levels of society. This is the first review of the group.

Spotlight reports – These reports by CONCORD Europe, the latest published in 2015, also examines how well the EU has committed to its promise of policy coherence on sustainable development.

For questions on this issue, contact policy and advocacy coordinator Karin Zilliacus, e-mail: karin.zilliacus@concord.se

The Swedish government has an obligation to protect human rights, both within and outside of the nation’s borders. This also includes the actions of Swedish businesses. Sustainable entrepreneurship that respects human rights is a cornerstone of Sweden’s Policy coherence for development, and essential in achieving the Global goals for sustainable development within the 2030 Agenda.

Despite this fact, Sweden does not have any lawfully binding rules that demand companies in Sweden to analyze their businesses’ potential effect on human rights, a so called human rights due diligence. CONCORD Sweden works to influence Swedish politics in order to create legislation within this area of policy.

For questions on this issue, contact policy and advocacy coordinator Henrik Halvardsson, e-mail: henrik.halvardsson@concord.se

International aid is a global responsibility based on the equal value of all human beings. Sweden and the EU have made important commitments about giving international aid in order to fight poverty and oppression.

CONCORD Sweden monitors and influences these policies to ensure that aid is used efficiently, is based on human rights and contributes to a sustainable development. Aid has a unique role to play in reducing poverty and creating a sustainable, democratic development.

CONCORD Sweden and CONCORD Europe have published several reports on the issue, find some of them in English below:

AidWatch 2017: EU aid uncovered – how to reach the target on time – The EU could take a generation to meet its 0.7 % GNI-target at the current rate of growth, reveals the CONCORD AidWatch Report 2017. While 2016 saw a substantial increase of 27% in development spending, there has also been a relatively dramatic increase in reporting of inflated aid, such as in-donor costs or debt relief.

Previous AidWatch reports – Since 2005, development NGOs from all 28 EU countries have come together every year through the AidWatch initiative to produce the annual AidWatch report. The reports monitor and make recommendations on the quality and quantity of aid provided by EU members states and the European Commission.

For questions on this issue, contact policy and advocacy coordinator Åsa Thomasson, e-mail: asa.thomasson@concord.se

Organisations and activists that defend human rights, democracy and the environment are key actors to reach the Global goals for sustainable development. But the space for civil society to act is shrinking around the world. Actors in civil society face increasing social, financial and legal restrictions as well as threats against themselves and their families and even physical violence.

Sweden and the EU have promised to strengthen their work to stop the shrinking civic space. CONCORD Sweden works to improve policies in Sweden and the EU in order to revoke the trend of shrinking civic space and strengthen support to human rights and environment defenders under threat.

CONCORD Sweden has published a report on the issue, read an english summary below:

English summary of the report Make space! Defending civic space and freedom of association and assembly (2018) – Organisations and activists that defend human rights, democracy and the environment are indispensable partners in implementing the 2030 Agenda with the Global Goals for Sustainable Development. But their space to act is shrinking on a global scale. This summary gives an outline of the recommendations put forward in the report by CONCORD Sweden.

For questions on this issue, contact policy and advocacy coordinator Henrik Halvardsson, e-mail: henrik.halvardsson@concord.se

Women, girls and non-binary people all over the world are subjected to structural oppression and face discrimination and violence. Gender equality is necessary to eradicate poverty, build sustainable peace and achieve sustainable development globally.

CONCORD Sweden monitors and influences the foreign and development policies of Sweden and the EU to promote gender equality and the equal rights of all human beings.

CONCORD Sweden and CONCORD Europe have published several reports on the issue, find some of them in English below:

Feminist policies for climate justice (2020) – Sweden aims to be a leader both when it comes to fighting climate change and ensuring gender equality. However, these issues and perspectives are not interlinked in Swedish policies.Women, girls and marginalised groups living in poverty are the ones most affected by climate change. Policies made to tackle climate change are ineffective without feminist perspectives. What are the key links between gender and climate change that need to be understood and addressed in Swedish and international policies? Find out in this publication.

English summary of the Civil society declaration for a feminist foreign policy (2018) – Ahead of the Swedish parliamentary election in 2018, we hope that all Swedish political parties see the importance and value of a continued feminist foreign policy for Sweden. Therefore, CONCORD Sweden has written the Civil society declaration for a feminist foreign policy where we describe the greatest challenges, give our definition of and recommendations for a feminist foreign policy.

English summary of the report How feminist is Sweden’s foreign policy? (2017) – When Sweden’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Margot Wallström launched the feminist foreign policy in 2014 it was a brave move and a very important political statement. Since then, we have witnessed several backlashes for women’s, girls’ and LGBTQ-rights across the globe. This has made Sweden’s feminist foreign policy more important than ever. In this report CONCORD Sweden analyzes the implementation of Sweden’s feminist foreign policy in 2016-2017 and gives recommendations for the future.

For questions on this issue, contact policy and advocacy coordinator Karin Zilliacus, e-mail: karin.zilliacus@concord.se

The European Union is a leading global aid donor which funds many different projects. CONCORD Sweden channels information about EU-funding from CONCORD Europe to our member organisations.

For more information, write to info@concord.se

Environmental and climate crises are increasingly affecting all sectors of society and all policy areas. The detrimental effects are seen globally and require response and transformation by all societies. However, neither the negative impact nor the responsibility to act are the same for all countries and communities. People living in poverty and marginalization are often hit the hardest. Future generations will ultimately bear the burden of today’s decisions and (in)actions.

CONCORD Sweden works for a holistic approach to environment and development challenges, guided by justice, equity, gender quality and human rights. We want to see higher ambitions in Sweden’s and EU’s commitments to tackle the climate and biodiversity crises. This includes increasing support to communities and countries that are most badly affected.

There is a chapter about Sweden’s climate efforts in CONCORD Sweden’s spotlight report on Sweden’s implementation of the 2030 Agenda

For questions on this thematic area, contact policy and advocacy coordinator Matilda Hald, e-mail: matilda.hald@concord.se