Sida’s handling of suspicions of corruption and irregularities in international development co-operation

For Sida, work against corruption and its negative effects on development is always a priority. Corruption is always an obstacle to development, and in the Corona crisis that the world is now facing, it becomes even clearer how devastating corruption is. Corruption reduces trust in public institutions, limits use of much-needed resources and hinders equality. Poor and vulnerable groups are affected the most by corruption and by the current pandemic crisis. Sida’s approach to corruption is to always prevent, never accept, always inform and always act. In 2019, we have further developed and sharpened our anti-corruption work. We have adopted new guidelines on corruption as an obstacle to development that addresses both Sida’s staff and partners. We are strengthening the field presence with more controllers. The work against sexual abuse and harassment continues, and is led jointly by gender equality and anti-corruption experts in the agency. We improve our working methods and take advantage of the opportunities of digitalisation.We closely monitor the number of cases, which in 2019 are at the same level as in 2018 and 2017. We review our partners’ capacity for governance and internal control, and we continue to develop our ability to perform risk analysis, assessments of audit reports and other reporting. Sida’s anti-corruption work always focuses on protecting Swedish funds for development cooperation and humanitarian aid. Swedish funds shall be used for their intended purposes. Every cent must contribute to poverty reduction.In 2019, there has been increased media interest in development cooperation and corruption. It is welcomed attention. The constructive review helps us to further sharpen our methods and our work.Together with our partners, we drive the anti-corruption agenda forward at all levels. And we are doing it to safeguard the resources that are so much needed now that we have entered the UN Decade of Action – the last ten years to succeed in achieving Agenda 2030 and eradicating poverty. The worldwide crisis brought about by the Corona pandemic makes aid efforts even more important.