Focus on SRHR and trade relations as Johan Forssell visits Zambia

“We prioritise the promotion of women’s and girls’ ability to freely decide over their lives and bodies in the Government’s reform agenda for development assistance. I’m visiting one of the Swedish-funded mobile clinics that helps improve access to contraceptives and reduced maternal mortality in Zambia. This is a concrete example of how Swedish development assistance contributes to the freedom of thousands,” says Minister for International Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Johan Forssell. 

Zambia is also an important partner to Sweden and Europe in facilitating green transition and safeguarding free trade. The Government’s overhaul of development assistance policy and new cooperation strategy strengthen the synergies between the trade and aid policies, which in turn has a concrete impact on cooperation with Zambia.

“Swedish development assistance supports local entrepreneurship and a working market economy, which are both crucial for long-term prosperity. We are also visiting Technoserve, which helps small-scale businesses in the food industry scale up in order to export,” Mr Forssell continues.

Sweden has a long-standing commitment to Zambia and is currently the country's third-largest donor of bilateral development assistance. The assistance helps strengthen human rights, democracy and the rule of law and improves conditions for entrepreneurship, trade and the sustainable use of natural resources. Mr Forssell is meeting with the President of the Republic of Zambia and government representatives. He is also visiting a clinic that provides advice on the use of contraceptives and sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) services and meeting with actors operating in the energy sector.