Aid to education
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) is responsible for setting the strategic direction of Norwegian development cooperation.
Since February 2020, within the MFA, the Minister of International Development oversees the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad), the MFA is in charge of developing policy, determining Norway’s main focus areas, and representing Norway in international arenas. The MFA then delegates much of Norway’s ODA management to Norad, with the exception of humanitarian assistance and human rights efforts which remain under the MFA’s remit.
The Norwegian government has based its development policy on the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), ensuring alignment with global priorities. Norway’s coalition government, in place since September 2021, spelled out their priority areas for development policy in the coalition agreement published in October 2021, which outlines the overarching direction of the government to the parliament for the period 2021-2025. The government is also committed to spending 1% of its GNI on development cooperation.
These areas include:
- climate and clean energy
- the fight against hunger
- the fight against inequality
- women’s rights
- humanitarian assistance
- the fight against infectious diseases.
Norway and GPE
Norway sits on the Finance and Risk Committee.