The Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency
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About Sida

Sida is guided by strategies

Sida is guided by strategies

Sida is a government agency that works on behalf of the Swedish Parliament and Government. Swedish development cooperation and humanitarian assistance is guided by government strategies. The strategies set the objectives for Swedish development cooperation.

Report to the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs

Sida, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, reports to the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, following government ordinances, appropriation letters, strategies, and budgets. The government's development cooperation policy is based on international agreements on development effectiveness, ensuring optimal results for recipients.

Sida follows up on and reports the results to the government and parliament in strategy reports. These reports are published in Swedish on our Openaid website.

Sida drafts proposals for new strategies based on instructions from the government, conclusions and good practices from previous strategy periods, as well as dialogue with cooperation partners. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is responsible for the final draft of the strategy, which is then decided by the government.

Current strategies

The work of Sida, is guided by strategies that are usually valid for a period of five years. They either have a geographic or thematic focus, such as human rights, democracy and rule of law.

Here are all the current strategies. Some of the strategies are in English and Spanish, the rest are in Swedish.

Operational strategy and plan

Sida's operational strategy shows how the agency works to contribute to the Swedish Parliament's and the Government's development policy objectives. The strategy includes external goals that are about making a difference for people living in poverty and under oppression. It also includes internal goals, which are about Sida working as effectively as possible.

These are the external goals:

  • Reducing poverty through job creation, trade and education
  • Improved health for the most vulnerable
  • Promoting freedom and combating oppression
  • Increased and more effective climate aid
  • Increased freedom and empowerment of women and girls
  • Strengthening synergies between aid and migration policies
  • Strengthening humanitarian support to save lives and alleviate suffering

The operational strategy is accompanied by a plan with milestones that are monitored quarterly.

Sidas sub-strategies supports the Operational strategy

The internal sub-strategies at Sida provide support and are practical documents based on Sida’s operational strategy. The purpose of the sub-strategies is to provide a common and clear picture of the strategic themes. Furthermore, it acts as a basis for active dialogue with external parties, this includes government and parliament as well as partners.

OECD-DAC ensures the quality

Sweden is a member of the OECD-DAC Development Assistance Committee. This is an international forum where donor countries develop their development cooperation and ensure its quality.

OECD-DAC works with, among other things:

  • Increasing effectiveness
  • Common rules for what counts as official aid
  • Fundamental principles of aid, such as accountability, focus on results, transparency and partner country ownership of development co-operation


The OECD-DAC regularly evaluates its members' development cooperation-programmes. You can read the evaluations of Sweden's development cooperation on their website.

Updated: September 25, 2025