Bron mellan långsiktigt utvecklingssamarbete och humanitärt bistånd: En kvalitativ studie av hur Sveriges biståndspolitik har förändrats sedan 2014

Abstract

This study aims to investigate changes in Swedish aid policy. The two aid sectors, humanitarian aid and development cooperation are the main focus of the essay, as the transition between these sectors has long been and still is a challenge in international development cooperation. The essay focuses on analyzing potential discourses represented in various aid policy documents, specifically the regulatory letters to Sida for the budget years 2015 and 2023. Therefore, the purpose of the study is to gain a better understanding of how Swedish aid policy has changed. The research questions are as follows: How is Sweden's motive represented through the aid policy orientations in the regulatory letters to Sida for the budget years 2015 and 2023? and How are long-term development cooperation and humanitarian assistance justified within Swedish aid policy in political documents? The results of the study show that several sustainability discourses are presented in Swedish aid policy documents, but the representation of these discourses has changed since 2014. Based on the represented motives in today’s aid policy, discourses on security and Swedish trade dominate instead. In addition, the Swedish government has changed how it prioritizes the two different aid sectors. Humanitarian aid is found to have a much greater representation in both regulatory letters and political party programs, while the focus on global long-term development cooperation has decreased.