Swedish Development Cooperation with India - in a Poverty Reduction Perspective

The paper gives an overview of Sweden's development cooperation with India, viewed from a poverty reduction perspective. It is one of the products of a research project, entitled 'Comparative Study of European Aid for Poverty Reduction in India', carried out in 1997 by a group of four European and eleven Indian researchers. The paper deals with the evolution and composition of Sida's programme in India in the context of the donor strategy, assesses the project portfolio in terms of relevance for poverty reduction and discusses the donor-recipient dialogue, programme management and selected issues such as targeting, ownership and the involvement of NGOs. Compared to most other donors, Sweden has for years had a significant poverty orientation in its development cooperation with India. Since the inception of Swedish aid in the early 1960s it has been an overarching objective to help 'raise the level of living of poor peoples'. But like other donors Sweden has also used its development aid to look after Swedish business interests. Roughly two thirds of the Swedish programme is relevant for poverty reduction, the remaining third more linked to business interests. This compares favourably with most other donors. The effectiveness in terms of poverty reduction, however, can be improved through better targeting and a more 'hands on' approach to management, although the latter must be balanced against ownership. [author]