Civil society organisations (CSOs) have long played a central role in Sweden’s international aid and constitute Sida’s largest partner category. According to data, 43% of bilateral aid in 2023 was channelled to or through CSOs. These organisations play a variety of roles: as implementers of initiatives, intermediaries for funds, or as final recipients where a strengthened civil society is the goal in itself. In its reform agenda, the Government has emphasised the importance of increasing both direct support to civil society and the proportion of aid channelled through civil society. Despite this, there is a lack of clear and well-developed knowledge about how and why CSOs are part of Sweden’s international aid.
The purpose of this study is twofold. Firstly, it aims to produce clear and well-developed knowledge about how and why civil society organisations are part of Sweden’s international aid. Secondly, it aims to compile existing evidence from research, studies and evaluations regarding the effectiveness of the forms of cooperation identified in the survey. The goal is to gather knowledge about what works in relation to the most important objectives where CSOs are implementers or recipients of Swedish aid.
Authors: Noomi Weinryb, Associate Professor of Business Administration, Zhanna Kravchenko, Associate Professor and Senior Lecturer in Sociology, Olivia Gardell and Olof Larsson.
Chair of the reference group: Lars Niklasson
Project managers at EBA: Helena Hede Skagerlind and Númi Östlund