Bilateral development assistance to Bolivia, Liberia, Zimbabwe, Tanzania and Mozambique is being phased out.
The same thing is being said by several aid organizations: Minister for Development Cooperation Benjamin Dousa (M) is painting a false picture that Sweden's aid has been ineffective.
The aid organization Diakonia's operations in Zimbabwe, which works to strengthen local democracy from a gender equality perspective, are directly affected.
And it has been extremely effective, says Secretary General Mattias Brunander.
RFSU's (National Association for Sexual Education) operations in Liberia are directly affected.
“Now, a unique network of civil society organizations working for sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) in Liberia is at risk of collapsing – and important progress, such as an upcoming law on strengthened abortion rights, is at risk of being lost,” says Secretary General Ingela Holmertz.
Departing from the target
Sweden is abandoning the stated goal of its aid, to reduce poverty in the world, according to critics.
What is problematic here, constitutionally speaking, is that it is not motivated by what the aid objective says, but by Swedish security policy, says Brunander.
This means that poor countries have to pay, which could have been avoided if the one percent target had not been abandoned or if the money had been taken outside the aid framework.
Julia Schalk, department head at Water Aid, is on the same page.
The consequence of the government's policy is unfortunately that aid is being transferred to other areas. For example, to benefit Swedish trade, Swedish companies or repatriation, she says.
Opposition critical
The Social Democrats' foreign policy spokesperson Morgan Johansson calls it "deeply irresponsible".
"The government seems to have cut off aid without any real basis for decision-making and without impact assessments. Rude and sloppy," he says in a written statement and continues:
"No one listens to Sweden in international contexts anymore. Now it's going to get even worse."
Anna Lasses (C) calls the reprioritization "really unfortunate".
A hard blow to the world's poorest, believes Lotta Johnsson Fornarve (V).
It affects women and children, the work for democracy, women's rights and the climate, she says.
Janine Alm Ericson (MP) says that the government "has focused on tax cuts for the richest and huge sums for repatriation grants instead of contributing to a safer world."
