What are the results? This is probably the most recurring question in foreign aid and international development cooperation. The question of how results should (or can) be reported is just as recurring and has been on the Swedish agenda on several occasions since the start of Swedish foreign aid in the 1960s. The government annually presents a results report for Government budget expenditure area 7 International aid in the budget bill. In addition to the annual report in the budget bill, the government also presents a report on development cooperation and humanitarian aid through multilateral organizations every two years. These results reports are primarily based on the data that the government received from its agencies.
The question is, how a consolidated results report best respond to the expectations of the Riksdag (and by extension the Swedish citizens)? How can a fair account of the Swedish development cooperation and its results be designed? Several different approaches have been tested over the years, but there are still clear expectations for a developed results report.
EBA’s study aims to describe how a combined results report for Sweden’s international aid can be designed. This will be done by exploring different reporting models, and then analysing any pros and cons of the different models.
Authors:
Númi Östlund, Programme Manager, EBA
Helena Hede Skagerlind, Programme Manager, EBA
Chairperson reference group: Torgny Holmgren
Project manager EBA: Jan Pettersson