Our Organization
Left International Forum is a non-profit solidarity organization affiliated with the Left Party of Sweden. Our vision is a democratic and equal world that respects human rights and freedoms. The organization was founded in 1995. Since then, we have collaborated with organizations in South America, Africa, Asia, the MENA region, and Eastern Europe.
Our ambition is always to be:
In Solidarity
We want our work to be defined by mutual cooperation and international solidarity. In partnership with parties and civil society organizations, we strive to strengthen democracy through popular mobilization, as well as increased diversity and gender equality in decision-making spaces.
Critical of Power Structures
We believe that by building movements grounded in diversity and equality, the power structures that lead to shrinking democratic space can be challenged.
Trustworthy
We strive to carry out activities characterized by openness and transparency, driven by an equal measure of idealism and professionalism.
You can find more information about our purpose and objectives in our statutes (Sv).
What We Do
Left International Forum works to highlight global injustices and influence the structures that maintain the unequal distribution of resources, power, and rights in the world. We do this by supporting organizations that, in various ways, work to improve marginalized groups’ opportunities for political influence and to restore people’s faith in democracy — a faith that can often be weak in countries where political power is concentrated in the hands of a small elite. The primary target groups of our activities are marginalized women and youth, who are most affected by social, political, and economic injustices.
We value local ownership and have chosen not to directly implement the activities carried out by the organizations we collaborate with. We believe that those who know best how activities should be designed to contribute to sustainable development and a just world are the ones who should lead the work. Within the Swedish left movement, there is extensive knowledge and experience of social change and advocacy. Drawing on that experience, we support the organizations we work with in their efforts to give a voice to those whose rights have been violated.
To contribute to strengthened international solidarity, we engage in information dissemination and public awareness-raising in Sweden. This includes outreach activities as well as participation in the networks we are members of. We also have a network of ambassadors — individuals who volunteer to support our work in various ways.
Funding
We continuously work toward diversified funding and also raise our own funds, but our activities are largely financed through party-affiliated support that we apply for via Sida. This support is guided by the Swedish Government’s Strategy for Special Democracy Support through Party-Affiliated Organizations 2024–2027. Activities carried out within the framework of the strategy aim to build democratic, well-functioning multi-party systems and, as part of this, strengthen and support democratic political parties, democracy movements, change agents, or defenders of democracy in organized forms with agendas that can develop into political parties.
Do you want to support our democracy work? Read more about how you can do so here!