The aim of this thesis is to investigate the power relations in women’s farmers’ cooperatives in Nicaragua, and to see if the women feel that they have power over their decisions and if they feel that their power has changed after joining the cooperative. The theory used in this thesis is postcolonial feminism theories of women empowerment and frameworks on development efforts to women. The method used to gather data has been semi-structured one-on-one interviews. The investigated cooperatives are part of the umbrella organization Femuprocan. Femuprocan has received development funds from We Effect (formerly Swedish Cooperative Centre) and other aid agencies in order to form cooperatives and for capacity building. Previous studies show the importance of involving women in the decisions about how the development funds should be used.   The interviews showed that the women have been involved in the decisions within the cooperatives such as how the funds should be used. Most of the interviewed women perceived an increased sense of power after joining the cooperative, and can exemplify this. However, the change is slow. The women have identified that capacity building, meeting other women and gaining more money have been crucial in the empowerment process.

Over the past decades, a convergence between civil and political human rights non governmental organisations (NGOs) and development NGOs have occurred. The fusion of the two disciplines have led to the construction of so called ‘Rights-Based approaches’ (RBA). One principal concept for RBA’s is the question of accountability. Functional accountability is no longer seen as sufficient and more focus on social accountability have advanced. In previous research NGOs are repeatedly questioned for their level of accountability. This comparative qualitative case study therefore aim to examine how three Swedish based NGOs perceive accountability, with the purpose to contribute to the academic discussion of NGO accountability. By using grounded theory and selective coding, this study will contribute with new empirical data to the ongoing development of RBA theory. Empirical data is collected through interviews, NGOs official strategies documents and analysed in relation to the empirically grounded theory. The main findings in this comparative case study is that organisations different backgrounds and values influence how they perceive RBA and accountability, and which methods are used to reconcile with accountability claims. The collected empirical data concludes perceptions of accountability mostly focuses on four interconnected key principles; power relations, democracy, transparency and empowerment.

This qualitative study is about social security system as a form of international aid, with focus on cash transfers in Tanzania. The study aims to examine social security systems as the right tool to fight poverty in the long term. It also aims to analyze how Swedish international aid organisations contributes to the establishment of social security systems in Tanzania. The study is based on literature of relevance, interviews and other existing social security systems. In this study a total of eight semi structured interviews were conducted with representatives from various Swedish international aid organisations, as well as a scientist operating at a university in Sweden. The theoretical framework in this study includes Social Progress Index as a tool to measure and analyze the well being of a country. The main findings in this study showed that social security systems in form of cash in hand is a simple and effective way to get people out of poverty. The results also include problems with international aid and the absence of a long term solution in fighting poverty. The main findings in this study contributes to a greater understanding of the importance of contextualization regarding social security systems. It also shows that Sweden as a welfare nation has an important role in international discussions concerning social protection. / Det här är en kvalitativ studie om internationella biståndsinsatser i form av sociala trygghetssystem med fokus på kontantstöd i Tanzania. Studien syftar till att undersöka om sociala trygghetssystem i den här bemärkelsen är rätt verktyg för att bekämpa extrem fattigdom ur ett långsiktigt perspektiv, samt hur svenska biståndsorganisationer bidrar till uppbyggnad av sociala trygghetssystem i Tanzania. Studien utgår från relevant litteratur, intervjuer och referenser till andra sociala trygghetssystem. Sammanlagt genomfördes åtta semistrukturerade djupintervjuer med informanter från svenska biståndsorganisationer samt en forskare som är verksam vid ett svenskt universitet. En viktig teoretisk utgångspunkt i studien är Social Progress Index (SPI) som är ett verktyg för att mäta länders välmående. Av resultatet framgår att sociala trygghetssystem är ett effektivt och enkelt sätt att lyfta människor ur fattigdom. Detta ställs i kontrast till problematiken kring bistånd och sociala trygghetssystem som endast en kortsiktig lösning. Resultatet visar också vikten av kontextualisering i biståndsinsatser och Sveriges viktiga roll i den internationella biståndsdebatten.