Sweden invests large resources in democracy assistance, and a significant part is channeled through civil society. Support to and through civil society organizations is important in, for example, humanitarian efforts, work on sexual and reproductive health, and efforts for democracy and human rights.
At the same time, the V-Dem Institute at the University of Gothenburg reports in its democracy report for 2024 a continued gloomy development for democracy in the world. Authoritarian regimes restrict the freedom of civil society, universities and the media. A record number of the world’s countries, 42, are moving in an authoritarian direction, while only 14 countries are moving in a democratic direction.
Limited, but positive, impact
An ongoing evaluation is studying the role of Swedish civil society organizations in strengthening the capacity of their partners in a selection of African countries. Overall, the picture is positive. An evaluation from 2020 shows that Swedish and international democracy assistance has a limited, but positive, effect on democratic development (Niño-Zarazúa et al., 2020). The authors also reject that aid would have negative effects on democracy.
Aid has a greater effect in countries where democratic development is taking place. Although the positive correlations disappear in situations where development is moving in an authoritarian direction, the authors argue that continued democracy aid may be even more important there. The report “Swedish Aid in the Era of Shrinking Space – the Case of Turkey” (Eldén and Levin, 2018) also argues for continued support in authoritarian countries where aid is important for actors working for democracy and human rights. The authors highlight a combination of long-term core support to organizations and small short-term project support to start and expand activities as a fruitful model.
Empowering discriminated groups is key
Civil society organizations have an important role to play in combating discrimination (Marcus et al., 2019). Although outcomes are difficult to measure, the literature shows success in changing attitudes and norms. It is particularly important to work closely with moral leaders and to strengthen the capacity of discriminated groups to assert their rights in various ways. Advocacy to change laws and policies is also key. Since the EBA published these reports, the democratic space has shrunk further. In many places, the COVID-19 pandemic has been used to postpone or cancel elections, restrict freedom of movement and other civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights.
This text is an excerpt from the EBA Aid Review 2024.
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