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Sweden spent USD 4.73 billion on overseas development assistance (ODA) in 2008. This amounted to 0.98% of its gross national income (GNI) and made Sweden the most generous of all DAC donor countries as a proportion of its national income. This is particularly laudable in a time of global recession. Its 2009 EU presidency offers an important opportunity to shore up support within the international community for development co-operation. The international community looks to Sweden to take the lead on follow-up to the report of the Commission on Climate Change and Development.

Sweden is a leader in the areas of aid effectiveness and good humanitarian donorship. It has initiated important reforms to bolster the quality of its aid and to make its development efforts more supportive of partner country priorities. As it reduces the number of countries in which it works, Sweden should maintain a clear focus on reducing poverty. Sweden sets an example as a reliable and engaged donor to multilateral organisations and could further enhance this reputation by making its support more strategic. Partnerships with civil society organisations — in Sweden and in partner countries — are also robust and form a central pillar of Swedish development co-operation.

Although Sweden is ahead of many other donors when it comes to making its national policies and actions consistent with its development objectives, it found this difficult to implement in practice. To address this, the government revised its approach, in 2008, which is promising. But there is still a need for independent scrutiny to monitor and evaluate cross-government coherence on international development.