On April 6, RWI participated in the annual Swedish CSO Forum organised by the Swedish government in Stockholm (at Sida). The purpose of the annual forum is to follow up on the government and civil society’s joint commitments to strengthen dialogue between the government and civil society in international development cooperation. The Swedish minister for development cooperation, Mathilda Ernkrans, opened the forum.
Issues in focus at the forum this year included, Sweden’s upcoming Presidency of the Council of the European Union, the Swedish government’s feminist foreign policy, the UN Stockholm+50 conference to be held in June in Stockholm, the war in Ukraine and humanitarian aid.
A working group that oversees implementation and follow-up of the Joint Commitments is elected each year at the forum. The working group consists of representatives of Swedish civil society organisations, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and Sida. RWI has been a member of the working group since 2018.
Representatives of the following twelve organisations were elected for 2022-2023: The Raoul Wallenberg Institute, War Child Sweden, Swedish Missionsrådet (SMC), ForumCiv, Save the Children, Svalorna Latin America, Islamic Relief Sweden, Action Aid, Vi Skogen, Läkarmissionen, Kvinna till Kvinna, and Vänsterns Internationella Forum.