Top global development employers in Sweden: A primer

Atop the Ericsson Globe arena, 130 meters above sea level, visitors get a breathtaking view of all of Stockholm. Getting there requires riding a glass gondola that run on rails outside up what is known as the world’s largest hemispherical building. The project to install the gondolas, collectively called Stockholm’s SkyView, was helmed by Sweco. The company is among the oldest consultancies in the country and possibly even in Europe. Sweco shares Stockholm with Sweden’s largest nonprofits and consulting firms, making the Swedish capital the country’s premier development hub. The nation’s bilateral agency, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, is likewise based here. But a few organizations have made their home bases in other Swedish cities such as Gävle and Sundbyberg. Here are the biggest Sweden-based organizations engaged in overseas development work. Search the Devex website for the latest international development jobs. AF Group Type: Consultancy Founded: 1895 Headquarters: Stockholm President and CEO: Jonas Wiström Employees: approximately 4,500 employees worldwide AF Group aspires to become Europe’s leading technical consultancy, targeting €1 billion ($1.4 billion) in sales by 2015. It provides services and solutions for industrial processes, infrastructure projects and the development of products and information technology systems and says all its assignments include sustainability components. Aside from Sweden, AF Group has offices in Brazil, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, Thailand and Vietnam. Diakonia Type: Non-governmental organization Founded: 1966 Headquarters: Sundbyberg Secretary-general: Bo Forsberg Employees: 215 worldwide Diakonia was founded by five Christian Swedish denominations, whose members form the organization’s support base. It does not implement projects on its own but cooperates with its local partner organizations for initiatives in the areas of human rights, democratization, social and economic justice, gender equality and peace and reconciliation. It provides both core funding and project grants to its 400 local partners in 30 countries. Sida matches every Swedish krona donated to the organization with nine kronor. Forum Syd Type: NGO coalition Founded: 1995 Headquarters: Stockholm Secretary General: Annie Sohlström Employees: 116 worldwide Formed through a merger of the Swedish Volunteer Service and Development Information to Swedish NGOs, Forum Syd brings together 200 Swedish aid organizations. It aims to strengthen civil society in the fields of democracy and human rights, and collaborates with its partner organizations, which range from small grass-roots movements to international networks, to implement development projects. Forum Syd is one of Sida’s 15 framework organizations-, which administer Sida funds to civil society groups in developing countries. Hifab International AB Type: Consultancy Founded: 1973 Headquarters: Stockholm Managing director: Kristina Englund Employees: approximately 350 The majority of Hifab’s services are carried out under advisory services contracts. The company maintains a close relationship with most of the major international funding institutions, such as the World Bank, regional development banks, U.N. agencies, European Union lending institutions and other donors. It currently has projects in 20 countries, with many in the sectors of infrastructure, urban development, energy, skills development, and environmental engineering. According to its website, Hifab projects commonly “include components of institutional capacity building and training, and are gender and environmentally mainstreamed.” International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance Type: Intergovernmental organization Founded: 1995 Headquarters: Stockholm Secretary-general: Vidar HelgesenEmployees: 91 International IDEA supports sustainable democratic reform around the world. Foreign affairs and development ministers from its 27 member countries make up the organization’s highest decision-making body, the Council of IDEA. The organization has observer status at the United Nations. It has offices in Bolivia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Ghana, Nepal, Peru, South Africa and Sudan. Save the Children Sweden Type: Non-governmental organization Founded: 1919 Headquarters: Stockholm Secretary-general: Elisabeth Dahlin Employees: 200 in Sweden, 37 expatriates and 544 locally hired staff in eight regional offices around the globe Save the Children Sweden is one of 30 chapters that compose the International Save the Children Alliance. In Sweden, it advocates for children’s rights; overseas, it supports the projects of local and national partner organizations, currently more than 330 in 70 countries. The principles of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and the U.N. Declaration on Human Rights form the basis of Save the Children’s work. Stockholm Environment Institute Type: International research institute Founded: 1989 Headquarters: Stockholm Executive director: vacant Employees: 70 at headquarters and 121 in overseas locations Established by the Swedish government, SEI undertakes policy-oriented research on sustainable development and environmental issues. In 2010, it launched a strategy that aims to make the institute “among the world leading knowledge institutions advancing credible, policy oriented and applied inter-and multidisciplinary research for sustainable development,” among others, by 2015. Its research focuses on four overarching themes: reducing climate risk, managing environmental systems, transforming governance, and rethinking development. SEI has offices in Estonia, Tanzania, Thailand, the United Kingdom and the United States. Sweco Type: Consultancy Founded: 1889 Headquarters: Stockholm President and CEO: Mats Wäppling Employees: about 5,900 Sweco vision is to become Europe’s most respected knowledge company in consulting engineering, environmental technology and architecture. As part of its recent growth strategy, it acquired several companies in Sweden and Norway. In 2010, it took on 31,000 assignments, serving 10,000 clients worldwide. Sweco, a Devex Top 40 Development Innovator, has 102 offices around the globe, 87 of them in Europe. Swedish Institute for Public Administration Type: Consultancy and training organization Founded: 1979 Headquarters: Stockholm Managing director: Anders OlinEmployees: 37 at headquarters and a pool of more than 15,000 consultants and experts of various nationalities in all areas of public management and related fields SIPU started out as a government agency but was privatized in 1992 into a company owned by its senior staff, and was acquired by Finland’s FCG Group in 2007. It is one of Scandinavia’s leading consultancies in public service development and works in 20 countries. Its clientele includes national, regional and local governments, parliaments, non-governmental organizations, and donors such as Sida, the World Bank and the European Union. Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency Type: Bilateral donor Founded: 1965 Headquarters: Stockholm Director-general: Charlotte Petri Gornitzka Employees: About 800 Sida is the ninth largest bilateral donor, based on its disbursed official development assistance in 2009. It handles around half of Sweden’s aid budget, which in 2011 amounts to 35.2 billion kronor ($5.58 billion) or about 1 percent of the country’s gross national income. Sweden has exceeded the internationally agreed target of allocating 0.7 percent of GNI for aid spending since 1975. Other notable aid groups in Sweden - Afrikagrupperna - GISPROCESS Management & Development Group AB - Global Reporting Sweden AB - Grontmij AB - Indevelop - Kooperation Utan Gränser - LO-TCO Secretariat of International Trade Union Development Cooperation - Olof Palme International Center - ORGUT Consulting AB - Naturskyddsföreningen - NIRAS International - Plan Sweden - PMU InterLife - Pontarius - Ramboll Natura - RFSU – Riksförbundet för sexuell upplysning - Stockholm International Water Institute - Svenska Handikapporganisationers Internationella Biståndsförening - Swedavia - Swedesurvey AB - Swedish Development Advisers - Swedish Mission Council - SweRoad - WSP International Sweden AB - WWF Sweden Did we forget any major aid organization based in Sweden? Please let us know by placing your comments below.