Swedish aid agency gets a new name ... SIDA
With the reorganisation of four Swedish aid agencies into one, a new, trendy name was supposed to demonstrate to the world that Swedish development assistance was taking a turn. (See DT 19/95)
But three months and SEK 400,000 in consultant fees later, the final choice was SIDA. Proposals like SwedeAid, Swedec and SIBIS were rejected one after another; some suggestions were rejected because they meant something unpleasant in a key language, like Estonian, Swahili or Urdu.
Finally, Minister Pierre Schori and his advisors heeded voices from around the world that asked what was wrong with the name the SIDA has had for the past 30 years.