Sweden in Afghanistan 2001–2021 Experiences and Lessons Learned SOU 2024:92

Context of Sweden’s engagement and lessons learned in brief

Sweden has had a long and broad engagement in Afghanistan, initially through civil society organisations such as the Swedish Committee for Afghanistan (SCA) and through providing humanitarian support via the UN system. The efforts in Afghanistan have been the object of great political and societal interest over the twenty-year period, both internationally and in Sweden. Sweden’s engagement in Afghanistan was one of the most long-lasting and extensive international efforts that Sweden has contributed to.

The engagement was discussed regularly in the Riksdag (Swedish Parliament) Committees on Foreign Affairs and Defence and in joint committees. Thousands of Swedes worked in the country, very often in dangerous and challenging situations. Six Swedes were killed in Afghanistan while in the service of Swedish or international organisations, along with two locally employed Afghan interpreters. With many other countries, Sweden contributed to supporting Afghanistan and its institutions and to improving people’s living conditions. In Afghanistan, Sweden has acted bilaterally, as a Member State of the EU and the UN, as a troopcontributing country, and as a partner country to NATO. In these different roles, Sweden’s scope for action has varied.

The Committee’s remit concerns the period from 2001 to 2021; from the year when the terrorist attacks on the United States on 11 September 2001 shook the world to a few months after the fall of Kabul on 15 August 2021 and the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan.

The current situation in Afghanistan shows few hopeful signs. For women and girls in the country, the situation is particularly dire. Afghanistan is no longer the object of as extensive international interest as it once was. Other international crises and conflicts are now in the foreground.

In its joint work, the Committee has listened to, read, discussed and learned lessons, which are presented in more detail later in the summary and in the report.