Afrikagruppernas partnerorganisation LaRRI ansluter till den långa lista av civilsamhällesorganisationer från hela världen som via initiativet #DearMagdalena vänder sig direkt till Sveriges statsminister Magdalena Andersson för att dela sin oro för konsekvenserna av nedskärningarna av biståndet.

Initiativet #DearMagdalena är öppet för alla organisationer att gå med i genom att skicka öppna brev till statsministern som sedan postas sociala medier med hashtaggen #DearMagdalena.

I brevet lyfter LaRRI hur deras organisation påverkas av nedskärningarna och lyfter att vi inte bör gå bakåt i utvecklingen och häva de framsteg som demokratiarbetet gjort i andra delar av världen.

”As a beneficiary of this critical aid, we have already felt the impact of aid reduction and narrative of possible discontinuation of aid. Seemingly, it will have not only have dire consequences to activities that we do but a psychological effect to personnel that do this important work and a constituency at large. At the moment, it is only Sweden through SIDA and related organisations that provide core funding support to non-governmental organisation in Namibia since the country was declared an upper middle class by the World Bank some years ago. We also note that wars are not planned for, nor envisaged under normal circumstances. However, we are of the view that this sudden reduction of funding in programs or total withdrawal is not only disadvantageous but also unfair to a larger extent as we had made commitments without consideration that the current situation will prevail. It is also our view, while it is important to extent humanitarian services and assistance to the war affected Ukraine we should not reverse the gains made so far in the work of democracy in other parts of the world.”