Despite looming budget constraints, Sida invests in former interns

It’s time to start better engaging young people, according to the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, which is trying out a new strategy to develop the Swedish talent pool — or “resource base.” Since late 2013, the Sida Partnership Forum has been inviting former interns and young academics who have completed a minor field study — a Sida-financed program that allows Swedish university students to collect material for their graduate thesis by carrying out a field study in a developing country — for a reunion to share knowledge and present opportunities for continuing a career within development. The reunions are still on a trial basis, but “if we hadn’t invited you, we’d be wasting all the knowledge in this room,” said activity leader Mikael Botnen Diamant to the participants during the last gathering. “You are the resources we want to seize.” Now, for the first time since introducing the reunions, the partnership forum also invited former Sida travel scholarship holders. Grantees of the travel scholarship have returned from Sida-endorsed internships with the United Nations, the World Bank, the European Union, Swedish delegations and other development organizations. There is currently a deficit of Swedes within international organizations, according to Christian Lien, head of unit for capacity development and exchange, and one way to tackle this problem is with annual allocations to finance positions within resource base programs that can qualify Swedes for more senior positions. Resource base programs such as the Junior Professional Officer program, Special Assistant to the Resident Coordinator, Junior Professionals in Delegation and the Bilateral Associate Expert Program serve as a springboard for people to proceed to regular positions within development agencies. Sweden currently has just over 100 people enrolled in the programs, and numbers fluctuate depending on resources allocated to the programs through the aid budget. “We have 45 persons enrolled in the JPO program and our goal is to reach up to 90 people,” said Marie-Louise Dagrup Strand, program manager for JPO. But 2015 will be a tough year economically, complicating any new recruitment to the programs, she added. After the parliamentary elections in September, the newly elected government’s budget was refused in early December by the parliament. A snap election will take place in March 2014, followed by a new budget proposal. But refugee reception has required allocation of more funds to the migration budget and less for other parts of the state budget, including aid — and resource base programs might feel the effects of this. Sida Partnership Forum regularly holds courses and workshops to increase the capacity of Swedish professionals and to ensure that are enough candidates within development cooperation programs. The goal is to increase the Swedish impact in multilateral organizations, and an explicit ambition of the Swedish government is to increase the number of Swedes in regular positions within the U.N. system. “The reunions are a chance for us to initiate an interest for young professionals to seek a career within development and to develop the resource base,” Maria Sjöström, a program manager, told Devex. “It’s also a chance for us to pick up on what’s happening abroad in the organizations to which we send interns.” Attendees benefit from advice from representatives from Sida, U.N. Volunteers, the Swedish Mission Council, We Effect, the International Council of Swedish Industry and nonprofit organization Reach for Change. A common feature among the speakers at the last meeting was their own struggle to gain a foothold in the industry. “Our idea is to be a platform for further opportunities,” Lien said. “Hopefully participants will gain increased knowledge of how to proceed to a career within development. In the future they might become part of the resource base, a stepping-stone for representing Sweden in the U.N. or the World Bank for example.” Whether you’re a seasoned expert or budding development professional — check out more news, analysis and advice online to guide your career and professional development, and subscribe to Doing Good to receive top international development career and recruitment news every week.