A “Double Fault” in Swedish Aid?

Swedish development cooperation has moved away from an explicit focus on poverty reduction with its partner countries to other priorities, namely democracy and human rights, gender equality, and the environment. Not only this but once countries make the transition from a low-income to middle-income country status, Sweden downscales cooperation when precisely such is needed to help establish sustainable and inclusive growth policies. This policy brief argues that the effectiveness of Swedish aid is hampered by this “double fault” which should be
redressed.