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 activities in Zimbabwe, strengthening 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, head of program and policy at Water Aid, agrees.
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 opposition is also critical. Center Party spokesperson Anna Lasses calls the re-prioritization "really unfortunate" and says that it is more important than ever that Sweden remains in Africa "when China and Russia are ready to take over."
The Left Party's aid policy spokesperson, Lotta Johnsson Fornarve, says that it is a hard blow to the world's poorest.
It affects women and children, the work for democracy, women's rights and the climate.
If the government had not cut aid earlier, it would have been able to maintain strong support on the African continent and at the same time give a lot of money to Ukraine, she believes.
