Democracy and human rights

The objective of Sweden’s international development cooperation is to create opportunities for people who live in poverty and oppression to improve their living conditions. Development cooperation will be based on the principles of aid and development effectiveness, and the new agreements reached by the international community in 2015: the 2030 Agenda, the Addis Ababa Action Agenda and the Paris Agreement.

This strategy will form the basis of Sweden’s cooperation with the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women). The strategy establishes the priorities and forms of collaboration for Sweden’s membership of, and partnership with, UN Women at global, regional and national level for 2018–2022.

On 23 August, Minister for Foreign Affairs Margot Wallström presented a handbook on Sweden’s feminist foreign policy. “In a worsening climate where human rights and women’s and girls’ rights are increasingly questioned and threatened, and in a world of shrinking democratic space, a feminist foreign policy is needed more than ever. I hope this handbook can be of help along the way for all of us who want to continue fighting for a gender-equal world,” says Ms Wallström.

The Government has adopted a new strategy for Sweden’s cooperation with the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) for the period 2018–2022. Sweden is a major donor to UN Women, which promotes gender equality and women’s and girls’ empowerment and rights worldwide, at global, regional and national level. Swedish core support to UN Women will amount to SEK 536 million during the four-year strategy period.

In October 2014, Sweden became the first country in the world to launch a feminist foreign policy. This means applying a systematic gender equality perspective throughout the whole foreign policy agenda. This handbook should be a resource for international work relating to gender equality and all women’s and girls’ full enjoyment of human rights. It contains a selection of methods and experiences that can provide examples and inspira¬tion for further work of the Swedish Foreign Service, other parts of the civil service and society as a whole. The handbook also describes the first four years of working with a feminist foreign policy. Thereby, it responds to the considerable national and international interest in this policy.

As President of the UN Security Council, Sweden has been responsible for the Security Council’s very broad agenda and led its intensive day-to-day work. The Security Council’s primary purpose is to maintain international peace and security, and Sweden has contributed to these efforts by focusing on results, dialogue and inclusive leadership.

The Government Offices will take part in Stockholm Pride for the 14th time. Advancing equal rights and opportunities for LGBTI people is a priority for the Government. Taking part in Pride is one way of increasing awareness about the Government’s work.

The formal rights for LGBT persons in Sweden have been strengthened through various reforms. This has involved changes in the law, including the introduction of a principle of non-discrimination, enhanced rights in family law and anti-hate crime initiatives. What follows is a chronological overview of several reforms put in place to strengthen and promote equal rights for LGBT persons.

In recent years, a number of reforms have been introduced in order to secure equal rights for LGBT persons. There has also been a positive societal development regarding these issues which has helped to ensure a better situation for LGBT persons in Sweden. However, LGBT persons, in particular transgender persons, still face difficulties in Sweden. The government is therefore taking further measures for equal rights for LGBT persons. You can find out more about these measures in the leaflet in the link on the righthand side of this article.

National statement delivered by Minister for Foreign Affairs of Sweden Margot Wallström on behalf of Sweden at the United Nations Security Council Briefing on Peace and Security in Africa, 10 July 2018, New York.