New FBA mission – promote human security in southern Africa

Photo: Eddy Mbuyi/Oxfam

The Swedish government has decided upon a new development cooperation strategy for Africa south of the Sahara. The FBA is commissioned to contribute to human security in the region. It is the fourth Swedish development aid strategy the FBA is commissioned to contribute to, and the first regional strategy.

The new Swedish strategy for Africa south of the Sahara aims at strengthening the capacity to meet challenges at the regional level. The strategy focuses on democracy/gender equality/ human rights, environmental issues/climate change, human security/freedom from violence and inclusive economic growth/trade.

– Armed conflict knows no boundaries and conflict resolution requires regional cooperation. The FBA is now initiating a long-term engagement in collaboration with the African Union (AU), among others, in order to promote peacebuilding and human security in Africa south of the Sahara, says Sven-Eric Söder, Director-General at the FBA.

An average of 450 million SEK per year 2016–2020 is allocated to southern Africa from the Swedish development cooperation budget; a total of 2.7 billion SEK. The strategy will be implemented by the FBA and Sida, the Swedish International Development Agency.

Besides the new strategy for Africa south of the Sahara the FBA is commissioned to contribute to three other Swedish development aid strategies; the strategy for Mali, the strategy for Liberia and the strategy for the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The strategy for southern Africa is the first regional strategy that the FBA will be working with.

– The fact that the FBA is commissioned by the Swedish government to contribute to a growing number of Swedish development aid strategies shows that we are an actor of increasing importance within the Swedish development cooperation and within issues concerning peace, security and development, Sven-Eric Söder says.

Pathways for peacebuilding in areas controlled by de facto authorites

What are the challenges and opportunities for peacebuilding actors working in areas controlled by non-state actors or informal institutions? To shed light on this important question, FBA recently organized a scientific workshop on “De facto authorities, service provisioning and gender” in Stockholm. Twelve researchers presented work related to de facto authorities and engaged in dialogue with FBA’s practitioners.

2024-12-12 15:53

Read our publications

Beyond Vulnerability: A Guidance Note on Youth, Climate, Peace and Security

In recent years, young people’s crucial role in preventing conflict and maintaining peace has become increasingly recognized as the Youth, Peace and Security (YPS) agenda has gained momentum. At the same time, the Climate, Peace and Security (CPS) field is developing rapidly at the research and policy levels. CPS is also increasingly becoming an entry point for programming; recognizing the interactions between climate change and existing vulnerabilities, which compound risks of insecurity, including violent conflict and the erosion of social cohesion.

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