On March 15, Sida held a meeting with the 17 organisations that have strategic partnerships with Sida within the official Development Assistance, ODA. During the meeting, the agency announced that all agreements under this strategy, many of which span several years, will be terminated at the end of the year. The total budget for the strategy this year amounts to SEK 1.8 billion, but since the agreements are multiyear, it involves contracts worth several billion that Sida intends to terminate.
Development Today: Sweden opens NGO funding pool to global competition, terminates all contracts with Swedish actors
2,000 organisations at risk of losing Swedish support
With the termination of agreements for strategic partner organisations nearly 2,000 organisations worldwide are also affected. These include trade unions, religious organisations, environmental groups, women’s rights organisations, and agricultural cooperatives collaborating with their Swedish counterparts. The majority of the strategy’s budget is channelled to partner organisations in low and middle income countries, supporting their efforts to bring about change in challenging situations characterized by conflict, democratic regression, and vulnerability. These partnerships also involve collective organisation to effect global change that impacts local situations, such as trade agreements, climate negotiations, regional and global legal processes for human rights, UN or EU processes, and global movements for specific issues.
Sida preempts investigations
The government states, for example, in its reform agenda for development assistance, that they want a larger portion of the aid to go to the civil society and directly to local organisations.
On February 29, the government tasked Sida with investigating how the agency can take over the further distribution and replace the current system of strategic partnership organisations with a new system to be launched on January 1, 2025.
In order to revamp the system before this date, agreements need to be terminated now, according to Sida. This is how the agency explains why they are preempting the investigations that they will submit to the government in the fall.
What practical and economic consequences will the decision have?
Several organisations are in the midst of multiyear agreements and are now forced to inform local partners that planned work may not be able to continue. This is a waste of the tax money invested in developing the current plans and leads to significant uncertainty that could potentially last all the way until the end of the year.
We Effect states on their website “This means that both we and our partner organisations will need to spend the coming months interrupting ongoing activities, managing administration, and writing new applications instead of working on food security and economic development.” (our translation)
According to the government’s mandate, the new approach to handling civil society aid should include descriptions of an open, more competitive application process, “including in third countries”, and where funds should increasingly be channelled to local organizations in partner countries. Sida has chosen to interpret this as requiring a call for proposals to be conducted this year, before the investigation of the pros and cons of the alternative models is complete.
Who is responsible for the decision?
The decision was communicated verbally at a meeting between Sida and civil society, but Sida could not answer who made the decision at the meeting. After the meeting, Sida provided several different versions in the media; that the decision was verbal but not yet in writing, or that the decision will come but has not yet been made.
Read Sida’s article about the decision.
A tight schedule lined with administration
May: By May organisations interested in applying for funding from Sida must submit a concept note. At this time, organisations from around the world can seek funding.
June: Sida, with the assistance of consultants, will make an initial selection of organisations to develop their applications.
October: A new strategy for development cooperation with civil society is expected to be adopted by the government in October. This strategy will replace the current one, adopted on Januari 31 and expiring on December 31, making it unusually short-lived.
Before the year’s end: Based on the new strategy, Sida will decide which organisations will receive funding for 2025.
Considering the numerous activities and organisations involved, the schedule is extremely tight.
Many uncertainties
Several uncertainties remain unanswered by Sida. For instance, the question of how long the new agreements will run. Research indicates that long-term commitments are beneficial for the outcomes of aid, but the government has indicated a preference for shorter contracts.
The fact that Sida will make decisions on applications based on a new strategy before that strategy is adopted poses obvious challenges for transparency.
Read comments from CONCORD Sweden members
Links to articles in Swedish
CONCORD Sweden’s members warn of wastage of tax taxpayer money when time must be spent on administration. They also see the risk of damaging relationships.
Union to union is interviewed in Arbetsvärlden: “Sida terminates agreements on trade union aid”
And in Publikt (The union ST’s magazine)
The Swedish Society for Nature Conservation is interviewed in Sveriges Natur: ”Sida terminates agreements with the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation”
Save the Children is interviewed on Swedish Radio’s Ekot: ”Sida changes structure – terminates agreements with Save the Children”
PMU is interviewed in Dagen: ”Sida terminates agreements – the aid sector is in uproar”
Olof Palme International Center in Fastighetsfolket: ”Why does the government want to remove union collaboration from international aid?”
Act Church of Sweden states on their website “Major changes in Sidas support to civil society organisations”
We Effect states on its website: ”Sida terminates its agreements with civil society”
ForumCiv states on its website: ”Sida terminates agreements with civil society”
Kvinna till Kvinna states on its website: ”Open letter: Why does the government want to reinforce the ongoing backlash against democracy, gender equality, and human rights.”
Facts about development assistance through civil society
A central part of Swedish official development assistance, ODA, has long been to promote movements and organisations – that is, people’s – engagement and work for global sustainable development in partnership with like-minded individuals worldwide. For over 50 years, we have had a system of strategic partnerships between Sida and Swedish organisations, currently 17, which in turn ensure that support reaches local partners. Swedish civil society aid has sought to include a breadth of organisations with various expertise, grassroots connections, geographical, and thematic spread.
The strategy for supporting civil society is the part of Swedish ODA that has given the greatest scope for efforts involving people at the grassroots level who can work for positive change from below. Within the civil society strategy, effective forms of support have emerged, with long-term partnerships between organisations with strong local roots. The strength of the civil society strategy lies in the combination of expertise and networks in, for example, the women’s movement, the environmental movement, or international movements for the organization of other groups and human rights, together with the fact that local and national organizations have influence over the resources.
When there is local ownership, a focus on results for people in poverty and oppression, and flexible, long-term, inclusive approaches, aid becomes effective. This is according to OECD DAC’s recommendations and the internationally agreed principles for effective development cooperation. Civil society aid is also the aid that Swedes perceive as most effective. https://www.sida.se/om-sida/opinion-om-bistandet