The Swedish International Development Cooperation (Sida) is a government agency working on behalf of the Swedish parliament and government, with the mission to reduce poverty in the world. Through our work and in cooperation with others, we contribute to implementing Sweden’s Policy for Global Development (PGU).

We implement the Swedish development policy that aims to enable people living in poverty to improve their lives. Another part of our mission is reform cooperation with Eastern Europe. The third part of our assignment is to distribute humanitarian aid to people in need of assistance.

We carry out enhanced development cooperation with a total of 35 countries in Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America. Our selection of cooperation countries are based on political decisions made by the Swedish government.

Read more: https://www.sida.se/English/

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Policy, legislation and its implementation
Core support to the International Disability Alliance (IDA). IDA was established in 1999 (supported by Sida since 2010) as a network of global and, since 2007, regional DPOS and the families of persons with disabilities. The aim of IDA is to promote the full implementation of the CRPD, through the active and coordinated involvement of representative DPOS with disabilities at all levels.

Sida is also funding two positions, one Bilateral Associate Expert (BAE) to IDA/World Blind Union and one Junior Professional Officer (JPO) with focus on disabilities in Human Resources to UNDP. 

Timeframe and/or implementation plan: Sida is likely (indicative) to continue support IDA indicatively through a new agreement from 2019.

Theme: Eliminate Stigma and Discrimination
Year: 2018
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Additional resources and implementation
Sweden continues to support inclusive education efforts e.g. Global Partnership for Education, UNESCO, UNICEF and Education Cannot Wait – both core and programme support at global and bilateral level. An integral part of the support is advocating for disability inclusion at consultations and in dialogue. 

Timeframe and/or implementation plan: Ongoing

Theme: Inclusive Education
Year: 2018
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Adopt the voluntary OECD-DAC disability marker
Sweden has supported the implementation in the DAC of a new policy marker that aims to measure development assistance toward persons with disabilities. 

Timeframe and/or implementation plan
Sweden will during 2018 implement the new policy marker in its internal systems, and will be able to report 2019 flows in relation to the new marker. Sweden commits to screen all of its ODA activities against the policy marker for disabilities by 2020.

Theme: Data Disaggregation
Year: 2018
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Gender equality and a Human Rights Based Approach are two of Sweden’s mainstreaming areas in all development cooperation.

Sweden/Sida will continue to work towards ensuring that partners and initiatives that receive funding are committed to integrating persons with disabilities as well as gender equality in their work and actions.

Sweden/Sida is funding a number of organisations and initiatives that more focused include women and girls with disabilities, e.g. UNFPA, UNICEF and UN WOMEN, including UN Women’s Strategy on the Empowerment of Women and Girls with Disabilities: Towards Full and Effective Participation and Gender Equality, Creating Resources for Empowerment and Action Inc. (CREA), and Association of Women’s Rights in Development (AWID).

Theme: Women and Girls with Disabilities
Year: 2018
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Disability is a significant aspect of vulnerability and thus an important consideration for Sida, when focusing on providing needs based, principled humanitarian assistance. More concretely, Sida is currently planning to conduct a survey of how partners include issues of importance for people with disabilities in their needs assessment and programmes. Moreover, Sida funds interventions that particularly focus on the needs of people living with disabilities. For example, Sida continues to support the International Committee of the Red Cross’ (ICRC) humanitarian activities in conflicts worldwide, where the organization works to address the needs of all persons with physical disabilities, especially those caused by clashes, cluster munitions, mines and ERW, as well as those arising from certain medical conditions. To this end, ICRC helps to develop national capacities in physical rehabilitation and directly provides services, including physiotherapy and the fitting of prostheses and orthoses. Sida’s support to ICRC is unearmarked below the level of ICRC’s country appeals. Sida will also review its Humanitarian (HCA) format to better incorporate issues relating to people living with disabilities. HCA is Sida’s analytical tool to annual review of context, needs and suggested assistance in all major humanitarian contexts and crisis. Finally, Sida will engage more actively in the Global Action on Disability network’s work on disability inclusive humanitarian action. 

Timeframe and/or implementation plan: Revision of the Humanitarian Country Analysis, 2018 Review of partners, 2019.

Theme: Conflict and Humanitarian Contexts
Year: 2018