Democracy and human rights

Opinion Piece by Prime Minister Stefan Löfven, published in Yedioth Ahronoth on 21 January 2020.

On Sunday 19 January, the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) held a ministerial meeting in Brussels. Minister for Education Anna Ekström represented Sweden. During the meeting, a Ministerial Declaration was adopted to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the end of the Second World War and the 20th anniversary of the adoption of the Stockholm Declaration.

On Sunday 19 January, the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) will hold a ministerial meeting in Brussels. During the meeting, a Ministerial Declaration will be adopted to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the end of the Second World War and the 20th anniversary of the adoption of the Stockholm Declaration. Minister for Education Anna Ekström will represent Sweden.

On Monday 27 January 2020, Prime Minister Stefan Löfven will attend a memorial ceremony at Auschwitz-Birkenau to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the concentration and extermination camp.

On 22–23 January, Prime Minister Stefan Löfven will visit Jerusalem to participate in the World Holocaust Forum to honour the victims of the Holocaust and commemorate the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau. The memorial ceremony will take place on 23 January at Yad Vashem, Israel’s Holocaust remembrance centre.

Sweden was today appointed Chair of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in 2021. The decision was taken unanimously by the OSCE’s 57 participating States at the organisation’s Ministerial Council in Bratislava, Slovakia, on Thursday.

Strengthened engagement for democracy was announced in the 2019 Statement of Foreign Policy and in the Swedish Foreign Service’s strategic vision for the electoral period. Sweden will stand up for democratic principles and support democracy in all contexts. On 21 November 2019, the Drive for Democracy was presented to the Riksdag Committee on Foreign Affairs by Minister for Foreign Affairs Ann Linde and Minister for International Development Cooperation Peter Eriksson.

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The seventh dialogue between Sweden and Cambodia on human rights took place on 21–23 October in Stockholm. The talks were led by Sweden’s Ambassador at large for Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law Annika Ben David. The purpose of the dialogue is to provide the opportunity for exchange of experience and to follow developments in human rights in the two countries.

Sweden’s Government is a feminist government, and the work for equality between women and men is important to the Government. The Government’s budget must be designed so that it may contribute to gender equality. The Government Offices therefore continuously works with gender-responsive budgeting, which means that the gender equality effects of the budget policy are evaluated.

As part of the third cycle of the UN’s Universal Periodic Review process (UPR), Sweden has on 14 October submitted a national report to the UN regarding the following up of the recommendations made to Sweden at the most recent review in January 2015.

The Universal Periodic Review (UPR) is a unique mechanism of the United Nations Human Rights Council that involves a periodic review of the human rights situation in all UN Member States. It is now time for Sweden to be reviewed within the framework of the third cycle of the UPR.

Sweden took over the two-year chairmanship of the Barents Euro-Arctic Council at the ministerial meeting in Arkhangelsk on 19 October 2017. Since its inception, the Barents cooperation has aimed to promote peace, stability and the development of the Barents region, through cross-border collaboration and people-to-people contacts. The Swedish chairmanship programme, with the title ‘Regional sustainable development for the future’, was formed with a view to advancing cooperation and deepening collaboration in key areas of common interest.

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Next week, Prime Minister Stefan Löfven, Minister for Environment and Climate, and Deputy Prime Minister, Isabella Lövin, Minister for Foreign Affairs Ann Linde and Minister for International Development Cooperation Peter Eriksson will travel to New York for the opening of the UN General Assembly.

The Government is making several investments to combat racism and strengthen the rights of LGBTI people. The Government is strengthening the national plan to combat racism and hate crime with SEK 10 million per year from 2020. At the same time, the work to strengthen the rights of LGBTI people will receive SEK 14 million per year from 2020, and temporary additional funds of SEK 10 million per year are planned for 2021 and 2022. It is the biggest ever investment in the area by any government.

In the Budget Bill for 2020, the Government, together with the Liberal Party and Centre Party, puts forward several proposals to strengthen democracy, culture and sports throughout Sweden. Here you can learn more about some of the proposals within the Ministry of Culture’s budget areas.

On Sunday 8 September, Minister for Education Anna Ekström will visit Yad Vashem, one of the world’s most prominent knowledge centres for Holocaust remembrance. Ms Ekström will be in attendance when a declaration of intent between the University of Gothenburg, the Living History Forum and Yad Vashem is signed in Jerusalem. This is the first declaration of intent between Yad Vashem and Sweden.