Sida to improve measures to tackle conflicts of interest and corruption

“Not a single krona paid in tax should disappear through corruption. For this reason, the Government has instructed Sida to improve its anti-corruption work. Sida will prioritise, enhance and continually develop its internal governance and control. Every krona of development assistance must be used responsibly, be traceable, reach the intended recipients and bring as much benefit as possible,” says Minister for International Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Benjamin Dousa. 

The assignment is part of the Government’s work to reform development assistance. It means that, among other things, Sida has been tasked with the following.

• Sida will improve its efforts to prevent and address conflicts of interest and corruption by developing and taking measures to better manage and monitor contributions in difficult environments with a high risk of corruption, including at missions abroad. 
• Sida will ensure that a training plan and training initiatives are developed. This training will focus on internal governance and control and countering conflicts of interest and corruption. Implementation of the training plan will begin in 2026 for all departments at Sida and for all directors who will be stationed abroad. In consultation with the missions abroad, Sida will also offer training on these issues to locally employed mission staff.
• Sida will strengthen its efforts to prevent conflicts of interest and corruption by gathering information on partner organisations from donor coordination in host countries, the EU, the UN, the World Bank, etc. in order to be able to identify high-risk and unsuitable partner organisations.

It has been deemed that Sida has strong potential to embrace change and develop its work in order to provide effective development assistance with good internal governance and controls and mitigate the risk of conflicts of interest and corruption. 

Sida will submit its report on this assignment to the Government Offices by 29 October 2027.