Sweden has engaged in development cooperation with India since 1953. Initially, India was one of the largest recipients of Swedish development aid. As a result of the economic and social development that has been happening in India, the traditional Swedish development aid has since 2009 been replaced by a new form of cooperation called selective cooperation. The development cooperation in India is governed by a country strategy for 2009-2013, adopted by the Government of Sweden. Please see link at the side. The strategy presents country-specific priorities for the selective cooperation with India.
The strategy is based on the Swedish Policy for Global Development (PGU) and primarily strives towards creating conditions for poor people to improve their lives. The strategy states that Swedish development cooperation with India should mainly be conducted through partner driven cooperation (PDC).
PDC aims to establish relationships of mutual interest between Swedish and Indian actors. Examples of actors may be authorities, trade associations, NGOs, universities, municipalities, cultural institutions and scientists in the respective countries. The cooperation should be characterized by shared ownership and responsibility. Furthermore both parties should find mutual benefits and have a clear interest in the cooperation. The cooperation is to be self-supporting in the long term. The financial support that can be obtained from Sida shall be limited in time and work catalytically to encourage further cooperation. Sida requires some cost-sharing by the partners to manifest their ownership. The assessment of proposed cooperations is done in accordance with the needs and strategic priorities mentioned in the strategy for selective cooperation with India, and within areas where Sweden has comparative advantages and relevant expertise.
The overall objective of Swedish partner-driven cooperation with India is to stimulate and strengthen the growth of sustainable, reciprocal relationships between actors in Sweden and India, with the aim to contribute to creating conditions for poor people to improve their living conditions.
The main area of cooperation is environment and climate change but also health is an area of particular interest. Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) have been signed in these areas between the Swedish and Indian Governments. The aim of these MoUs is to promote bilateral cooperation between the countries on the basis of equality, reciprocity and mutual exchange and benefit. A range of areas for cooperation has been identified under the MoUs. Joint working groups under the MoUs have the responsibility for the coordination and implementation of the collaborations. Relevant MoUs:
- The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on cooperation in the field of Environment was signed 5 November 2009.
- The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on cooperation in the field of Health Care and Public Health was signed on 24 February 2009.
As an example of good collaboration please find the link above under “related files” to the report about our experiences in collaboration in the field of Waste-to-Energy.
More information about partner driven cooperation can be found on the> Sida website