Norway and its two partners in the European Economic Area (EEA), Iceland and Liechtenstein, have been unable to agree with the Hungarian government on how their financial aid to Hungary’s civil society should be administered. They’re thus blocking access to all their potential funding, amounting to around NOK 2.3 billion for the period from 2014 […]
Norway promises aid to Lebanon
August 7, 2020
Foreign Minister Ine Eriksen Søreide has expressed the Norwegian government’s sympathy for the victims of Tuesday’s explosion in Beirut that killed at least 135 people, injured hundreds more and left hundreds of thousands homeless. Søreide promised emergency aid on top of the NOK 470 million already has sent to Lebanon this year. As Lebanese citizens […]
Norway sends more refugee aid to Syria
February 20, 2020
Norway has become highly restrictive in taking in refugees itself, but was willing this week to donate NOK 77 million (USD 8.4 million) in extra support to those now being driven from their homes in northwestern Syria. The aid comes after humanitarian organization have all but begged for more aid to the roughly 1 million […]
Norway boosts aid to Afghanistan
November 29, 2018
The Norwegian government is boosting its humanitarian aid to Afghanistan by NOK 48 million this year, because of drought and conflict.”The humanitarian situation in Afghanistan is now even more demanding because of the drought,” said Foreign Minister Ine Eriksen Søreide. She made an unannounced visit to the terror-plagued country last week, and met both Afghanistan’s […]
Hungary wants ‘its money’ from Norway
October 1, 2018
The Hungarian government has been complaining once again that Norway is withholding its majority share of the financial aid the European Economic Area (EEA) countries dole out to Hungary as part of the EEA’a trade agreement with the EU. Norway wants to make sure its financial contribution is delivered to and controlled by civilian organizations, […]
Foreign aid subject to major reforms
May 27, 2018
Norway remains one of the world’s major contributors to foreign aid, donating more than 1 percent of gross national product to development projects every year. The new government minister in charge, though, is set to launch some major reforms, in how the aid is administered and in aid projects themselves. “There are some new initiatives,” Development Minister […]
EU post sacrificed in favor of foreign aid
January 18, 2018
Of all the changes resulting from her goverment reshuffle, Prime Minister Erna Solberg was getting perhaps the most kudos for her decision to replace a ministerial post responsible for EU issues with one aimed at monitoring foreign aid. It’s forcing a major reorganization within Norway’s foreign ministry, but commentators on both the left and the […]
Red Cross red-faced over Haiti funding
October 31, 2017
The Norwegian Red Cross was resorting to damage control on Tuesday, after newspaper VG reported that it had wrongly informed donors about how it spent funds raised for earthquake assistance on Haiti in 2010. A Norwegian expert on foreign aid claimed the organization owed its owners an apology, and they got one. “The Norwegian Red […]
Charity drive raises millions for Unicef
October 23, 2017
Norway’s annual charity drive organized by state broadcaster NRK and known as TV-aksjonen, raised NOK 218.5 million (USD 28 million) on Sunday for Unicef. The money poured in from Norway’s roughly 5 million residents and will be used to help more children in poverty-stricken and war-torn areas go to school. The fund-raising effort was boosted […]
Prosecutor drops ministry probe
June 23, 2017
UPDATED: Norway’s state prosecutor (Statsadvokaten) was raising questions Friday about how the country’s foreign ministry (Utenriksdepartementet, UD) has handled a conflict of interest case involving the former Norwegian ambassador to Indonesia. Prosecutor Jørn Maurud decided to drop further inquiry, concluding that nothing criminal had occurred. Newspaper VG has been writing detailed and documented stories all week […]
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