Eritrea and Sweden share a history of more than a century and a half. On the foundation of religious, cultural, educational and health cooperation summarized in this report, today’s bonds between the two peoples are strong.
For centuries, Eritrea was colonized by successive external powers. In the shadow of Egyptian, Italian, British and Ethiopian rule, there was strong engagement in Sweden for the people of Eritrea.
The Lutheran Church of Sweden and its Evangelical Mission, particularly, worked for more than a hundred years to promote education and vocational training, typography and book printing, health care and opportunities for the deaf. Swedish civil society support for Eritrea’s independence struggle culminated in the official recognition of Eritrea as an independent state in 1993.
