SIDA. Шведское агентство по международному развитию и сотрудничеству.

A brief overview of Sida

The Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, Sida, is Sweden’s government agency for development cooperation. We strive to reduce world poverty by allocating resources and knowledge with the goal of making a difference for people in Africa, Asia, Europe and South America. To achieve this, we collaborate with actors from civil society and universities as well as the public and private sector. Sida’s activities are funded through Swedish tax revenue.

Mission statement and vision

Sida works on behalf of the Swedish parliament and government with the aim of implementing Swedish development policies. The goal is to enable people living in poverty and oppression to improve their lives. We facilitate development that prioritises the most impoverished in the world. Our vision is to safeguard the rights of every individual and their opportunity to live a dignified life.

Points of departure

In addition to lack of material resources, poverty also include a lack of power and influence over one’s own life. The starting point for Sida’s efforts is the situation of those living in poverty and their needs and opportunities. All the work we do shall be permeated by four perspectives: human rights, environment and climate, gender equality and a conflict perspective. The Sustainable Development Goals are an important foundation for all development cooperation.

Sida’s role

Sida does not implement the aid interventions, but works in partnership with other actors. Our role is to allocate financial resources and to develop knowledge and competence, while our partners manage and execute the projects. Each country is responsible for its own development, and our local partners always have the best solutions for local problems.

Sida’s management

Sida answers to the Ministry for Foreign Affairs (UD) and is in charge of roughly half of Sweden’s development aid. As a Swedish authority, our work is dictated by government regulations, appropriation directions and strategies. The regulations describe how the work is to be implemented. The appropriation directions are issued every year and regulate the activities and budget of the given year. Strategies are set by the government and define which countries and themes Sida will be working with.

Funding

Sweden’s development cooperation resources are funded through tax revenue. The Swedish parliament makes decisions regarding the state budget, which includes the funds allocated to international aid. The government then decides how much money Sida will have at its disposal. In 2019, Sida is overseeing the distribution of SEK 42.3 billion.

Collaboration in an ever-changing world

Contributing to the development of people living in poverty has become an increasingly complex task. Armed conflicts, climate change and humanitarian crises are growing in scale and are becoming increasingly drawn out. For this reason, we need new global forms of cooperation between private, public and non-profit actors. Sida plays an important part in bringing these actors together, building new types of partnerships and acting as a catalyst for change.

Preventing corruption and promoting transparency

The fight against corruption is one of Sida’s top priorities. We investigate all suspicions of corruption or irregularities and always take action whenever necessary. Preventive measures are also an important component of our anti-corruption efforts.

Sida is actively striving to ensure openness and transparency in the development work. One of the ways in which this is done is by making information about our activities available in the open database openaid.se.

Organisation

Sida’s head office is located in Stockholm. The agency also has offices in Visby and Härnösand. A significant portion of our work is conducted at Swedish embassies in the countries with which we collaborate. Sida is governed by a board with full accountability. Carin Jämtin is the Director General as of 2017.