Strategy for Sweden's development cooperation in the areas of human rights, democracy and the rule of law 2018-2022

Strategy for Sweden’s development
cooperation in the areas of human
rights, democracy and the rule of law
2018–2022

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1. Direction

The aim of Swedish international development cooperation is to create
preconditions for better living conditions for people living in poverty and
under oppression. The development cooperation is based on the principles
of aid and development effectiveness, and the new international agreements the
international community agreed on in 20151.

The overall objective of the Strategy for human rights, democracy and the rule of
law is to contribute to secure, just and inclusive democratic societies that protect
and respect the equal rights of all.

The strategy will apply in 2018–2022 and covers the funds allocated in the
appropriation directions of the Swedish International Development Cooperation
Agency (Sida) and Folke Bernadotte Academy for each budget year 2.

1
 The development agenda encompasses the 2030 Agenda including its 17 Global Goals and
169 targets for sustainable development, the outcome document of the Addis Ababa Action
Agenda of the Third International Conference on Financing for Development (Addis Ababa
Action Agenda), the New Deal for Engagement in Fragile States and the Paris Agreement on
climate change.
2
 Activities within the framework of this strategy are financed in accordance with the
appropriation directions concerning the Swedish International Development Cooperation
Agency and appropriation directions concerning the Folke Bernadotte Academy for each
budget year”.

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Sida’s activities will contribute to the following objectives:

Inclusive democratic societies
• Strengthened democratic principles, processes and governance for independent
  and transparent societies based on the rule of law.
• Increased democratic participation and influence.
• Strengthened preconditions for freedom of expression.

Equal rights for all
• Strengthened global and regional processes and systems for the enjoyment
  of human rights.
• Greater respect for human rights, with particular focus on those subjected
  to discrimination.
• Strengthened preconditions for the full enjoyment of human rights by women
  and girls, empowerment of women and girls, and gender equality.

Security, justice and accountability
• Reduced corruption and increased transparency and accountability.
• Strengthened rule of law and access to justice.
• Increased safety and security for actors and organisations working to
  uphold human rights.

The activities of Folke Bernadotte Academy will contribute to the
following objective:

• Increased democratic participation and influence.

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2. Context

Human rights are an integral part of         point for the 2030 Agenda. A rights
international law and a prerequisite for     perspective and the need for democratic
upholding peace and security, and for        and inclusive societies permeate the
just, equitable, gender-equal and            entire Agenda.
sustainable development. They are
integral both in definition and to           Many countries have adopted laws
upholding democracy and the principles       strengthening the respect for human
of the rule of law. To be fully enjoyed,     rights and the principles of the rule
however, they require systems of             of law. The internet and the impact
democracy and the principles of the          of social media have led to better-
rule of law that include free and            informed citizens – not least among
independent elections as essential           young persons – and have contributed
elements. Democracy and respect for          to a growing and independent civil
human rights, gender equality and the        society that is strengthened through
principles of the rule of law are goals in   innovative forms of cooperation. At the
and of themselves, but also a means of       same time, respect for human rights,
achieving other goals. Women’s and           democracy and the principles of the
girls’ enjoyment of human rights is          rule of law around the world is decli-
central to all three dimensions of           ning. This is evident in international
sustainable development, democracy           forums too, where international human
and adherence to the rule of law. The        rights commitments are being increa-
Universal Declaration of Human               singly questioned. For many countries,
Rights and subsequent human rights           human rights, democracy and the rule
instruments are also a starting              of law are no longer self-evident goals.

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Instead, they are challenged and in          to continue to build and deepen
competition with more authoritarian          both broad networks and strategic
social models and political ideas.           partnerships to ensure more better
The democratic space is shrinking            collaboration and sustainable results.
more and more, restricting people’s
rights and freedoms. This is also
evident in the media landscape. In
addition, many poverty-related societal
problems such as resource waste,
environmental degradation, discrimi-
nation and rights violations can be fully
or partially explained by the rule of law
being supplanted by abuse of power,
arbitrariness and corruption, not least
in relation to the exploitation of natural
resources and land issues.

To keep pace with a changing world,
development cooperation working
methods must be continuously
developed and adapted. Strengthening
human rights, democracy and the rule
of law requires long-term engagement,
flexibility and creativity. Sweden needs

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3. Activities

Sweden’s development cooperation             environmentally sustainable, and
shall take as a point of departure and be    gender-equal. The development
characterised by a rights-based perspec-     cooperation is based on a comprehensi-
tive and by the perspective of poor          ve approach to the challenges, needs
people on development. The rights            and conditions of people and societies.
perspective means that human rights          The guiding principle is that economic,
and democracy are regarded as funda-         social and environmental conditions
mental to development. Such an               and processes are to be understood and
approach involves giving visibility,         managed in an integrated context.
ahead of each contribution, to individuals   Gender equality and the empowerment
and groups who are discriminated             and rights of women and girls are both
against, excluded and marginalised, so       goals in themselves and a prerequisite
that all people, regardless of gender,       and a means for achieving sustainable
age, disability, ethnicity, religion or      global development. Violence and
other belief, sexual orientation, or         armed conflict are among the greatest
transgender identity or expression, can      obstacles to economic and social
enjoy their rights. The perspectives of      development, and development
poor people on development means             cooperation is an important part of
that the situation, needs, conditions and    conflict prevention. An environmental
priorities of poor women, men and            and climate perspective, a gender
children will be the point of departure      equality perspective and a conflict
for fighting poverty and promoting           perspective shall therefore be
faire and sustainable development.           systematically integrated into Sweden’s
Sweden’s development cooperation             development cooperation.
must be economically, socially and

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The strategy primarily covers activities    addition, strategic support to actors
that have a global added value, of which    of change working for human rights,
cannot be attributed to a particular        democratisation and the principles of
continent, region or country. The           the rule of law must be included in the
support shall contribute to Swedish         activities, for example, support to
priority issues to impact and affect the    culture and cultural actors.
international normative policy in the
areas covered by the strategy and at the    The development cooperation will be
same time reach out broadly at regional,    based on the international human rights
national and local level. Support may       agreements and commitments, in
therefore be given to organisations,        particular the UN Universal
networks or other actors that are           Declaration of Human Rights,
standard-setting and thus play a key        democracy and the rule of law.
role in Sweden’s priority issues. Sweden
shall especially stand up for rights        A long-term approach combined with
issues that are not sufficiently emphasi-   speed and flexibility is crucial for the
sed by other international cooperation      ability of both Sweden and the interna-
actors. Internationally agreed principles   tional community to work effectively.
on aid and development effectiveness        Rapid response is of great importance for
shall be applied. Sweden’s resource         contributions at national and local level.
base, including Swedish experiances,
expertise and networks in different         Activities shall provide support to meet
sectors of society are to be considered     global challenges and support global
in implementation (where relevant). In      policy and methods development.

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This may include support to multilateral    The political nature of the activities and
organisations that contribute to the        the limited possibilities for development
achievement of the strategy’s objectives,   cooperation to separately address the
including organisations based in            causes of violations of human rights,
the south.                                  democracy and the principles of the
                                            rule of law require a close dialogue
Activities must be contextualised and       between relevant actors. In this
inclusive, and provide support to           dialogue, activities within the
nationally and locally owned and run        framework of bilateral, regional and
processes, which is a prerequisite for      thematic strategies must be considered
inclusive democratic societies where        in order to promote complementarity.
the principles of the rule of law is        Combating the root causes of the
respected and everyone can enjoy their      shrinking democratic space for indivi-
human rights. Partners and forms of         duals and civil society organisations, as
cooperation will be chosen based on         well as strengthening democratic
the direction of activities. The partners   processes and rule of law actors are
and forms of cooperation that contribute    also priorities.
most effectively to the strategy’s
implementation should be used.
Support should be available through
national, regional and global channels.

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Synergies between the different areas      Folke Bernadotte Academy will
of the strategy must be harnessed.         in its activities focus on support to
Synergies must also be sought with         election observation missions, as
activities within the framework of other   per its mandate.
regional, bilateral and thematic strate-
gies. Support via multilateral organisa-   The strategy will be followed up
tions, known as multi-bi aid, shall be     according to the principles and
compatible with Sweden’s priorities        processes set out in the Government’s
and approaches in cooperation with         Guidelines for Strategies in Swedish
multilateral organisations. When           International Development Coopera-
implementing a strategy, Sida must         tion and Humanitarian Aid.
ensure an integrated approach to
Sweden’s total support to a region,
a country, and in a thematic area.

A comprehensive and strategic dialogue
on implementation of this strategy
shall take place regularly and when
warranted. The strategy’s implementa-
tion must be characterised by a tailored
and exploratory approach.

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Ministry for Foreign Affairs
103 33 Stockholm
government.se

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