ODA Spending

How much ODA does Sweden allocate to gender equality?

Sweden was the 8^th-largest donor in absolute terms to gender equality in 2023, accounting for 67.3% of its total ODA.

How is Swedish gender equality ODA changing?

Sweden has long been viewed as a global leader for gender equality and gender-focused development. However, funding for gender-focused projects has decreased year on year since 2019, suggesting a regression in gender-related focus.

Gender equality is featured in most of Sida’s 45 strategies (bilateral, regional and global) covering areas such as women’s and girls’ human rights, women’s economic empowerment, women’s political participation, girls’ education, SRHR, women, peace and security, ending GBV and harmful practices, and integrating gender equality in development programmers and humanitarian assistance.

How is Swedish gender equality ODA allocated?

Bilateral Spending

Because of its longstanding practice of gender mainstreaming throughout its ODA programming, Sweden’s largest funding areas for gender equality correspond to its largest funding areas overall: government and civil society received the largest share of funding for gender-focused projects (US$477 million, or 26%) in 2022, followed by humanitarian assistance (US$344 million, or 18%).

Multilateral Spending and Commitments

Sweden is a large contributor to the UN system. It has historically been the largest contributor in total resources to UN Women, and the second-largest donor to UNFPA, with whom it has signed a multi-year contributions agreement of US$300 million for 2012-2025 (see Sweden's involvement with Global Health). Sweden strongly focuses on SRHR and supports initiatives such as She Decides.

Funding and Policy Outlook

What is the current government's outlook on gender equality ODA?

Sweden applies a gender lens to all its development projects: Sweden mainstreams gender equality into its ODA programming, ensuring that every project incorporates a gender lens. A new strategy for Global gender equality and women’s and girl’s rights (2022–2026) was adopted in 2022. The strategy focuses on the full enjoyment of human rights by all women and girls and increased access and use of sex-disaggregated data and research.

Sida applies a three-pronged approach to gender mainstreaming: This approach includes:

• Targeted support to gender equality interventions;
• Integration of a gender perspective in all operations and sectors; and
• Highlighting of gender equality and women’s rights in dialogue with partner organizations.

On June 3, 2025, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs released Sweden’s new Strategy for Gender Equality, Women’s and Girls’ Freedom and Empowerment 2025–2028. With a budget of SEK 800 million (US$83 million) to be implemented through Sida, the strategy focuses on four objectives:

• Combating sexual and gender-based violence, discrimination, and harmful norms;
• Promoting economic empowerment and equality before the law;
• Strengthening women’s and girls’ participation in political and societal life; and
• Improving access to gender- and age-disaggregated data.

It also adds a focus on digitalization, including tackling online hate and abuse.

CSOs such as CONCORD Sweden welcome the continued focus on combating discrimination but criticize key changes from the previous 2022–2026 strategy. They point to reduced resources, the loss of a global dimension, weaker recognition of women’s rights organizations, and the removal of systematic follow-up and intersectional perspectives—warning that these shifts lower Sweden’s ambition in international gender equality work.

Key Bodies