Jesper Sundwall, SweDev’s chair and researcher at Lund University, will become the Head of the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency’s Research Unit starting 1 January 2026. The research unit is now being reinstated after previously having been removed. Jesper has been part of SweDev’s steering committee since 2020.
Jesper Sundewall, SweDev’s chair and researcher at Lund University, will become the Head of the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency’s (Sida) Research Unit starting 1 January 2026. The research unit is now being reinstated after previously having been removed.
Sida is a government agency with responsibility for a large share of the Swedish budget for development cooperation. The overall goal of Swedish development cooperation is to improve living conditions for people living in poverty and under oppression around the world. Research cooperation is an important part of this work and has a budget of about 500 million Swedish kronor annually.
“I am very excited to take on this new role”, says Jesper and points out that Sweden and Sida have a strong track record of successful, long-term research partnerships – nationally, regionally and globally – that we should be proud of. “At the same time, there’s still work to do, especially when it comes to closing the gap between research and practice”, he continues.
Jesper has been part of SweDev’s steering committee since 2020 and has served as chair for the last 2 years. We at SweDev want to extend a big thank you to Jesper for all his work and engagement for SweDev. We wish him the very best in this new chapter and look forward to following what comes next!