2025 marks the 35th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which has been in force as Swedish law since 2020. Nevertheless, children and young people under the age of 18 remain a particularly vulnerable group in many parts of the world, accounting for around half of the population in several low-income countries. Although children’s rights have long been a priority in Swedish aid policy, there has been no comprehensive overview of the level of focus placed on children in practice.
To address this knowledge gap, the Expert Group for Aid Analysis (EBA) has conducted a thorough review of Swedish aid programmes aimed at children and the promotion of their rights.
How much aid goes to children, and how is it distributed?
The study will identify how much of Sweden’s aid was allocated to children’s initiatives during the period 2015–2025. The survey will describe how aid is distributed based on the organisations implementing it, and will also map its distribution based on age, gender, countries and sectors.
As children’s issues affect many areas of aid, such as education, health, humanitarian support, peace and conflict prevention work, gender equality, and social security systems, the study will also consider how aid is distributed across these sectors.
The study is based on two overarching questions:
1. What proportion of Swedish aid has focused on children and children’s rights during 2015–2025, and how has this aid been distributed geographically, between sectors and actors, and between age groups and genders?
2. How have children’s rights been reflected in the governance and strategic focus of Swedish aid during the same period, and how have these goals been promoted at global, regional and local levels?
The second question also considers whether the status of the Convention on the Rights of the Child as Swedish law has influenced the design of aid, and if so, how.
The survey will use register data and review and analyse various policy documents. Finally, it will conduct interviews with various key individuals, including those at Sida.
Authors: Matthew Gichohi, Sarah Tobin, Charlotte Ringdal and Arne Tostensen. Chr. Michelsen Institute (CMI)
Reference group chair: Jenny Deschamps-Berger
Project managers at EBA: Malin Ahrne and Ravneet Singh