The aim of the Swedish regional development cooperation is to improve the conditions for countries and organisation in the region to manage trans-boundary aspects of relevance for poverty reduction. The support shall focus on contributions that are regionally relevant and which produce a regional value-added.
REED's activities contribute to Sidas implementation of the Swedish Governments strategy for regional development cooperation in Africa in two main areas:
In terms of cooperating partners REED strives to primarily support the regional economic communities (RECs), for example the East African Community, and their institutions, to enable them to perform the duties assigned to them by the member states. A program approach based on the RECs own development plans is the preferred mode of operation and REED strives to apply the principles of Aid Effectiveness in a regional setting. Other cooperation partners are River Basin Organisations, like the Nile Basin Initiative, or organisations representing civil society or the private sector and which have a regional mandate and interaction with the RECs. Support to some strategic Regional Research Councils is also provided.
A new Swedish strategy for Regional Development Cooperation with Sub-Saharan Africa was approved by the Swedish Government on 14 October 2010 and will form the basis for REEDs future work.