Globalizacao que beneficia a todos e possivel-Afirma Anders Nordstrom na tomada de posse como Director da ASDI

O novo director da ASDI, Anders Nordstrom defendeu ha dias em Estocolmo que uma globalizacao que beneficie a todos e possivel. Numa nota distribuida a imprensa Nordstrom tracou as prioridades que nortearao a organizacao, na nova fase de mudancas que se avizinha.

'Assumo hoje a posicao de Director Geral da ASDI. Durante 4.5 como Director-Geral da Organizacao Mundial da Saude, vi o que a sjuda ao desenvolvimento pode fazer para melhorar a vida de milhares de pessoas'- frisou aquele dirigente Sueco.

Nordstrom tracou ainda como prioridades da organizacao, a necessidade de definicao de uma visao clara, prioridades claras, bem como a necessidade de introducao de novos metodos de trabalho, novas formas de cooperacao que consubstanciem a nova filosofia da ASDI- melhorar a eficiencia no terreno.

Para alcancar os objectivos definidos, o novo director chamou a atencao para a necessidade de se focalizar a atencao na analise dos resultados obtidos pois isso possibilitara uma melhor priorizacao e articulacao das actividades.

Antes de ser nomeado Director Geral da ASDI, Norstram desempenhou as funcoes de Director Geral Interino (Aquando da morte repentina do entao Director Geral) e Director-Geral Adjunto da Organizacao Mundial da Saude. Foi tambem funcionario da ASDI e da Cruz Vermelha Internacional, tendo trabalhado em varios paises como Zambia, Irao, Cambodja.

A nomeacao de um director do quilate de Anders Norstram e um reconhecimento tacito da prioridade que o novo governo Sueco da a cooperacao internacional. Esta nomeacao decorre numa altura crucial em que o novo governo do Centro-Direita na Suecia esta num processo de reformulacao da sua politica de desenvolvimento, com vista a uma melhor racionalizacao dos seus recursos e maximizacao do resultados. No processo de racionalizacao paises como a Nicaragua e Angola ficaram com os seus pacotes de ajuda internacional seriamente reduzidos enquanto que Mocambique suplantou a Tanzania, acabando por ser o pais que mais ajuda externa Sueca recebe.

Aquando das ultimas vistas que efectuei a Suecia o ano transacto era visivel a azafama dos funcionarios ligados quer ao Ministerio dos Negocios Estrangeiros quer da ASDI no sentido de compreender na integra e interiorizar o sentido das novas mudancas. Visivel tambem era a insatisfacao por parte de sectores importantes da sociedade civil Sueca em relacao a nova politica, pois na sua optica tal politica 'resumia-se' na diminuicao dos pacotes da ajuda aos paises em desenvolvimento, e aumento dos orcamentos de defesa. Para oficiais superiores ligados a nova administracao as mudancas eram necessarias pois a Suecia estava a dispender muitos recursos sem criterios rigorisos para medir o seu impacto, dai a necesidade de mudancas radicais na forma como era concebida e gerida a politica de ajuda ao desenvolvimento.

Recentemente (Dezembro 2007), uma delegacao chefiada pelo Director Geral do Ministerio dos Negocios Estrangeiros, e inclui o Drector para Africa visitou Mocambique para se inteirar do grau de implementacao da cooperacao Sueca. Durante a sua vista a Mocambique a delegacao conferenciou com entidades governamentais bem como com parlamentares da oposicao.

A experiencia que Anders Nordstram vai trazer ao posto ira fortalecer e profissionalisar as mudancas imprimidas pela nova politica de cooperacao internacional da Suecia.

Oxala nossos jovens quer na Embaixada em Estocolmo,Suecia, quer no MINEC em Maputo, sabiam capitalizar este momento impar de redefinicao da politica de cooperacao Sueca.

Um abraco,

Manuel de Araujo

Para mais detalhes o discurso do Novo director da ASDI em directo:



Statement by Sida's new Director-General

Today, I am assuming the position of Director-General of Sida. During the past 4.5 years as Deputy Director-General of WHO, I have seen what development assistance can mean for people's survival and the improvement of their living conditions. I have also seen the need to formulate clear goals and focus on results.

Sweden is highly regarded and trusted as a cooperation partner, both locally and globally. We must preserve this trust and utilise it more effectively. This requires a clear vision and clear priorities, a change in our methods, new, innovative forms of cooperation between the parties involved, and a new organisation with a greater presence in the field. I intend to promote these kinds of changes, beginning now.

During the past 30 years, we have witnessed unsurpassed improvements around the globe. People are living longer, poor countries are becoming richer, and the number of countries with democratic governments has increased. The list of improvements is a long one, and these positive trends result from factors that include increased and faster access to new information and technology. The percentage of economic growth in the world's poorest countries is higher, on average, than in the world's richest countries.

Unfortunately, there is also another side to this picture. Massive inequality, poverty, lack of security and resources are still in evidence in all too many countries. The differences in the conditions facing a child born in Congo and those enjoyed by one born in Sweden are enormous. A woman living in sub-Saharan Africa runs a 150 times greater risk of dying of complications during pregnancy or childbirth, than if she had lived in Europe. About one billion people still live on less than one dollar a day.

Creating improved conditions for individuals to live a better life and contributing to a reduction of poverty is a great challenge. In order to achieve results in today's globalised world with its interdependency and shared opportunities requires close cooperation among businesses, organisations and public officials, as well as coordination between the various policy areas.

Sweden's policy for global development (PGD) contains a vision for a Swedish commitment in a globalised world. As such, this policy has become a reference point for other countries. At the same time, the PGD makes it clear that if Sweden is to be able to contribute to this vision, conventional assistance is not enough. The PGD instructs all policy areas, within their area-specific objectives, to actively seek ways to strengthen Sweden's contribution to a fair and sustainable global development.

Thus, strategic action is needed in many important areas of policy, including trade, research, agriculture and the environment. Furthermore, this is not about assistance projects in these areas, but rather about Sweden's combined action based on a global perspective. The climate change is maybe the most obvious question. But even questions regarding access to water or information technology, the human trade and threatening outbreak of infectious deceases and are questions that are of concern to all of us regardless of were we live.

The International Commission for Climate Change and Development, appointed by the Prime Minister, and led by Gunilla Carlsson, is an excellent example that spans several policy areas, and is not restricted to development cooperation. The recent United Nations Climate Change Conference in Bali is another example, with Sweden being represented by Minister for the Environment, Andreas Carlgren. The discussions there related to how we can support the efforts of the world's poorest countries to bring about positive development in their countries, without negatively impacting the climate and the environment.

A world in constant change requires a new approach. This certainly also applies to Swedish development cooperation, which has been clarified by the Government, and adopted by the Swedish Parliament in the form of this year's budget.

In promoting an improvement for the world's poorest people, we have found the following complementary and mutually dependent areas in which Sweden also has comparative advantages:

Enhanced democracy and increased respects for human rights.
Equality between men and women.
Sustainable environmental development and measures to ameliorate the effects of climate change.
Economic growth with a focus on trade and the development of the private sector.
Social development, especially HIV/AIDS, access to basic healthcare and education.
Peace and security.
Although Sweden can contribute to promote this kind of long-term development, we cannot, and should not, do this alone. According to the Paris Declaration for Aid Effectiveness, the ultimate responsibility belongs to each of our various partner countries. In addition, however, it is important to bring together relevant parties from both the public and private sectors and NGOs, as well as to contribute to more efficient cooperation with other donors and the coordination of measures and decisions in other policy areas.

Let me mention a concrete example from Ethiopia, which I visited a couple of weeks ago. Sweden's assistance in that country includes measures to improve conditions for private business, including more efficient legislation. Sweden also supports NGOs that work with educating the police to induce them to show more respect for human rights, and contributes to the development of basic healthcare. This will benefit people in poor areas both in the short and long term. It is of great importence to increas the respect for basic human rights in Ethipia. This demands dialog with the government as well as cooperation with NGOs.

Sida, with its experienced and expert employees, plays a central role in Swedish development cooperation. My ambition is to make Sida an even more attractive and effective partner in the international development arena. We should improve our relations with our partner countries, other donors and actors in Sweden. These efforts include organisations and businesses, and closer cooperation with decision-makers, in Sweden, and our partner countries, and on the multinational arena, work in the United Nations and the European Union frameworks.

In order to achieve this, Sida must:

Focus on the results that are to be achieved, and formulate clear prioritisations, based on lessons that can be learned from evaluations, audit reports and new research.
Be open and flexible for new forms of cooperation, new innovative solutions, and cooperation with the actors considered best suited to achieve the desired results.
Link global problems and actions to local solutions, and vice versa.
Be easy to cooperate with. It should be simple to follow, review and evaluate decisions made.
Be efficient, accurate and responsible in the performance of all matters, from beginning to end.
All these are necessary if Sida's work is to be properly directed, properly timed and properly organised. These points will also increase the quality of decisions as to where to invest Swedish tax funds, and will make us into a more active partner in implementing and following up these contributions.

Sida has a fantastic staff with great qualifications and enthusiasm. The challenge is to create working methods and an organisation that enables our personnel to do its work even more efficiently and strategically. I have promised to present a new organisation within two months, and without getting ahead of myself, I can already say that:

The focus will be on the Field (embassies and section offices for development cooperation), and we will be increasing our presence where we have our primary mission.
Sida's role as an expert agency will be expanded. An active personnel policy and human resource development will be formulated with a focus on global development and other crucial issues.
Administrative functions and governance will be improved through a smaller management team and clearer delegation and division of responsibility
Management by objectives and results will be given a greater emphasis, with more of a focus on learning from both successes and less successful projects.

The decision of the Government to concentrate Swedish development cooperation to a smaller number of countries, makes is possible for us to prioritise resources and expertise in order to improve results and increase quality. This also means that Sida will be handling fewer, but larger, projects.

Sida has traditionally played a role that has been focused on bilateral assistance, in other words, cooperation with individual countries. The Government has made it clear that Sweden has to stand up and be noticed more in Brussels, Washington and Geneva. My ambition is to have Sida contribute more to these efforts by linking our actions through the European Union, at the United Nations and its agencies, and as a member of the Board of the World Bank, with what we are seeing and accomplishing on the ground in countries such as Uganda, Cambodia and Bolivia. Sida and the Ministry for Foreign Affairs should act together as "Team Sweden".

A globalisation that benefits everyone is possible. Global development cooperation enables more and more people to escape poverty faster, and this benefits both the rich and the poor. Sweden and Sida have an important role to play and a responsibility to contribute to making this happen. As the new Director-General of Sida, I accept the task of working together with my colleagues to renew and modernise our agency, so that Sida will be equipped to meet the challenges it faces.

Anders Nordström
Director-General
Sida