Where does Swedish aid money go?

Swedish development aid is an issue that generates controversy, especially if the reasons for its existence which is basically the reduction of poverty among the poorest in the world, is not achieved. In a special report today in Dagens Nyheter, the utilisation of Swedish aid money is once again under close scrutiny.

It appears according to the report, that no other previous Swedish government have had so much money to give to the poorest countries than the current Alliance government. From the level of SEK14 billion in 2000, development aid has risen to SEK34 billion today, although the recession may eat up some of this amount. But the controversy is not on how huge the aid money is but rather where and how it is used that bothers many.

One important reason why the Swedish aid money has grown enormously is the 1 percent of the gross national product (BNP) target that is expected to go to development assistance. With the looming recession, this one percent is a huge amount to pay. Swedish development assistance Minister Gunilla Carlsson is quoted as saying:"An economic brake means low demand in the world market, reduced export from developing countries, low national incomes because att the prices of raw materials have gone down and foreign investments are also down.There is also the risk that developed countries become more protectionist and less generous with their aid money as well as less enthusiasm to fulfill earlier commitments," Carlsson says.

SIDA, the Swedish development aid authority was earlier criticised for irregularities in the accounting and auditing of several projects. Bengt Nilsson's book "Sweden's African War," pointed out that in principle all development aid to countries should be abolished because it often ends up supporting wars and corrupt regimes.

As far as Gunilla Carlsson is concerned, the current recession is a good argument against the 1 percent aid target. At present, Swedish aid money goes to supporting diplomatic presence, as in Kabul; asylum and refugee reception and debt writeoffs. The biggest aid receiver is still Africa with SEK6.2 billion; Asia with SEK2.8 billion; Oceania with SEK2.4 billion and South-Central America with SEK1.4 billion. The rest of Europe and the Central and Eastern Europe gets SEK1.4 billion and SEK319 million, respectively.

How the future of the Swedish development aid will look like depends upon the outcome of the ongoing debate among the different political parties and the global economic meltdown.#