Development co-operation has a long tradition in Norway, and the development agenda of the Norwegian government enjoys broad public and political support. The Norwegian commitment towards developing countries is demonstrated by the fact that currently no other donor country spends more on development aid as a percentage of its gross national income (GNI) than Norway (0.93% in 2005).

The administration of Norwegian development assistance has seen a major reorganisation in recent years. Beginning in 2004, the planning, execution and administration of Norwegian development activities were integrated into the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, while decision-making was largely decentralised to the embassy in each country. In addition to being responsible for implementing development programmes, the embassies now assume a central role in the co-ordination of Norway’s bilateral and multilateral development efforts. As a result of the re-organisation, the responsibilities of the Norwegian Agency for Development Co-operation (Norad), a directorate under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs have been curtailed and now only cover evaluation, quality assurance, knowledge management and the administration of grant schemes for non-government organisations (NGOs) and the private sector.

The primary objective of Norway’s development co-operation is to contribute towards improvements in economic, social and political conditions in developing countries, with a special emphasis on the poorest and most vulnerable parts of society. The government’s ‘Action Plan for Combating Poverty in the South Towards 2015’ (2002) and the White Paper ‘Fighting Poverty Together – A Comprehensive Development Policy’ (2004) outline the following five main goals of Norwegian development assistance:

• Fighting poverty and contributing towards lasting improvements in living standards and quality of life, with a focus on employment, health and education;
• Promoting peace, democracy and human rights;
• Promoting responsible management and utilisation of natural resources and biological diversity;
• Preventing hardship and alleviating distress arising from conflicts and natural disasters;
• Promoting equal rights and opportunities for women and men in all areas of society.

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) serve as a central point of reference for Norway’s development activities and the formulation of thematic programmes. Education, health, HIV/AIDS, good governance, human rights, economic development and trade, infrastructure and energy, the environment, and women’s rights constitute the main thematic focuses of Norway’s development co-operation, with sectoral priorities changing from country to country depending on local conditions. The recent White Paper also stresses policy coherence as an explicit objective, and Norway plays an important role in the harmonisation of donor practices and alignment with national Poverty Reduction Strategies (PRSs). Since Norwegian development assistance currently covers a wide variety of thematic areas, it is expected that it will streamline its development co-operation and focus on fewer thematic issues in the future. In a speech before parliament in May 2006, International Development Minister Erik Solheim proposed concentrating on energy, peace and reconciliation, women’s and equity issues, and the environment as the four priority areas of Norway’s future development co-operation.

In 2005, Norway’s total Official Development Assistance (ODA) was US$ 2.77 billion or 0.93% of GNI, up 13% from 2004. This is the highest percentage of GNI among OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) members, and the government aims to maintain an ODA of around 1% of GNI for the foreseeable future.

The bilateral share of Norwegian ODA is around 70%. In 2004, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs assumed responsibility for Norway’s bilateral co-operation with partner countries in the South, which focuses on seven main partner countries and 18 other partner countries.

The seven main partner countries are: Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Bangladesh and Nepal, and the other partner countries are as follows:

• Africa: Angola, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Mali, Nigeria, South Africa
• Asia: Afghanistan, China, East Timor, Indonesia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, The Palestinian Territories, Vietnam
• Latin America: Guatemala, Nicaragua

Overall, Norway provides ODA to more than 120 countries. The large number of recipient countries is explained by the geographical spread of NGO projects administered or funded through Norad.

Main partner countries are selected on the basis of their commitment towards poverty reduction and good governance. There is no formal strategy regarding the choice between the different aid channels (bilateral, multilateral, NGOs). In general, Norway’s bilateral assistance emphasises quality of aid delivered, achieving results and strengthening national or local institutions and organisations. The government’s ‘Action Plan for Combating Poverty in the South Towards 2015’ states that Norway will scale down project assistance and increase the proportion of sector-wide approaches (SWAps) and budget support in its future bilateral development co-operation. In doing so, National PRSs will serve as the framework guiding the identification of priority areas for Norwegian support. Partner governments will be increasingly given the opportunity to control the development process, which in the future will make it possible for donors and local civil society to hold the government accountable for the results.

Norway’s bilateral ODA – channelled through Norad – concentrates on Africa, which received 47.5% of Norad’s bilateral aid in 2004, followed by Asia (15.9%), Latin America (11.5%), the Middle East (2.4%), and eastern Europe (0.2%). Geographically unspecified allocations accounted for 22.6%. The share of bilateral ODA going to Least Developed Countries was 36.8%. In 2004, the largest recipients of bilateral ODA were Afghanistan (US$ 68 million), Tanzania (US$ 63 million) and Mozambique (US$ 58 million).

Norway is a strong supporter of multilateral development agencies, with roughly 30% of the country’s ODA going to multilateral agencies. With its high level of ODA as a percentage of GNI, the country is also an influential player in the multilateral development arena. At the United Nations (UN), for example, Norway has pressed for increased efforts to reform the organisation and the way it responds to global development challenges.

In recent years, the Norwegian government has been successful in influencing the global development agenda by partnering with other top donors. As a member of the Nordic Plus countries (with Denmark, Finland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Sweden and the UK), Norway has been a driving force in the promotion of donor harmonisation and alignment to reduce transaction costs for partner countries and increase aid effectiveness. Together with other partners of the Utstein group (Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden and the UK), Norway has called on international financial institutions to develop and use poverty and social impact analyses.

In 2004, Norway spent US$ 662 million on multilateral ODA, of which US$ 429 million went to UN agencies and programmes, US$ 120 million to the World Bank, US$ 74 million to regional development banks and US$ 39 million to other multilateral organisations.

Luxembourg is the world’s fourth most generous donors for population programmes in terms of its level of economic activity. According to projections of the Resource Flows Project, Luxemburg contributed US$ 8.249 million to population and HIV/AIDS activities in 2003. Its activities are heavily weighted towards HIV/AIDS. This strong commitment is reflected in Luxembourg’s active support for EU positions in this area, its participation on the UN commission on population and development, and its long-term support for UNFPA.

In 2004, Luxembourg signed a multi-year agreement with UNFPA and allocated it US$ 1.144 million. In addition to its multi-bilateral projects in Niger or Vietnam, for the first time Luxembourg engaged in three UNFPA thematic activities: reproductive health – including safe motherhood – the fund for the prevention of and fight against fistula, and population and development.

The fight against HIV/AIDS is one of Luxembourg’s priorities, and it applies a global and integrated approach to the pandemic, including prevention, treatment and research. It continues to support UNAIDS (US$ 0.939 million in 2004 and US$ 1.099 million in 2005), the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (US$ 10.539 million paid to date) as well as the ESTHER initiative. This initiative began in 2002 in France, Italy, Luxembourg and Spain and involves some 60 hospitals working in collaboration with hospitals in 22 developing countries to exchange technical and material assistance in support of comprehensive AIDS treatment programmes.

Luxemburg supported two UNAIDS initiatives in 2004: The Global Coalition on Women and AIDS, as well as the Three Ones agreement. Additionally, UNIFEM received US$ 0.845 million in 2004 and US$ 1.035 million in 2005.

Civil society and voluntary organisations have a strong and long-standing tradition in Norway, and Norwegian civil society organisations have played an important role in promoting development co-operation with the South. Support for civil society organisations constitutes one of the most important channels for Norwegian development assistance. Compared to other OECD donors, Norway channels one of the largest shares of development assistance through NGOs (approximately 22% in 2002). Co-operation with NGOs is not limited to Norway’s partner countries and covers activities in more than 120 developing countries. Africa receives more than half of total NGO funds, and Least Developed Countries constitute almost 50% of the recipient countries. Since the reorganisation of Norwegian development co-operation in 2004, Norad has been fully responsible for administering NGO co-operation.

The overarching objective of Norad’s assistance to NGOs is to strengthen civil society in developing countries as a driving force for change to achieve poverty reduction and national development objectives and to enhance the political participation of the local population. Moreover, Norway aims to contribute to the provision of basic social and financial services for the poorest and most vulnerable parts of society. The most important thematic areas include institution building and organisational development, health, education, democratic governance and human rights, income-generating activities and credit programmes, agriculture, and the environment.

In general, Norad’s support for Southern civil society is channelled through Norwegian NGOs and their local partner organisations. All NGO projects funded by Norad must, therefore, aim to strengthen the local partners’ capacity and promote the involvement of grassroots organisations. In some cases, local civil society organisations receive funds directly via Norwegian embassies. In Norway’s main partner countries, direct support to local NGOs must be in line with agreed country strategies and national PRSs, while in other partner countries NGO support is also directed towards more specific development goals.

Co-operation with NGOs has increasingly become integrated into SWAps in recent years. Norad has commissioned several studies to explore the potential role of civil society organisations in SWAps in the health (including SRHR) and education sectors. These studies and a synthesis report published in 2004 are available for download from the Norad website.

The Norwegian government is also supporting a range of international NGOs and networks which focus on priority areas of Norwegian development co-operation. In 2006, Norad donated funds primarily to international NGOs working within health (especially SRHR and HIV/AIDS), the environment, governance, and human rights. In total, NOK 120 million (approximately US$ 19 million) were allocated to 30 international NGOs and networks in 2006. With NOK 41 million, the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) was the largest recipient. The International Women’s Health Coalition (IWHC), which works globally on population issues and sexual and reproductive rights, received NOK 1 million.

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Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad): ‘Action Plan for Norad’s intensified efforts to combat HIV/AIDS’ (2001)

Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad): How to Deal with Direct Support to Civil Society.

Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad): Norad in Brief 2005.

Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad): SWAps and Civil Society. The Roles of Civil Society Organizations in Sector Programmes. Synthesis Report (2003).

Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs: International Development Minister Erik Solheim’s statement to the Storting, 16 May 2006.

Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Fighting Poverty. Norway’s Action Plan 2015 for Combating Poverty in the South (2002).

OECD Development Assistance Committee: DAC Peer Review Norway 2004.

OECD Development Assistance Committee: Donor Aid Chart Norway

UNFPA: Donor payments and pledges for 2004.

UNFPA/UNAIDS/NIDI: Projections of Funds for Population and AIDS Activities, 2004-2006

Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad)

Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs

OECD Development Assistance Committee

The Global Fund To Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM)