Norway Donor Profile

NORWAY Donor Profile

FUNDING TRENDS STRATEGIC PRIORITIES KEY OPPORTUNITIES

Norway has exceeded its own Girls’ education is a top thematic Parliamentary elections in ODA target of 1% of GNI since priority for Norway, with climate September 2017 may lead to 2013, and there is a cross-party change and humanitarian shifts in priorities, while in- consensus to maintain this assistance also prioritized. creasing private sector focus spending level. may lead to shifts in modes of development financing.

For Syria, where an estimated 2.8 million children are out of school because of conflict, Norway and partners are funding an international competition to develop an open-source smartphone app to help Syrian children learn how to read in Arabic.

NORWAY at a glance

Funding trends

•• Norway is the 9th-largest donor country, spending US$4.4 billion on net official development assistance (ODA) in 2016 (in current prices). This corresponds to 1.1% of its gross national income (GNI), making Norway the largest donor in proportion to its economic size. Norway has exceeded the 0.7% target since 1976, and has spent at least 1% of its GNI on ODA since 2013. There is a cross-party consensus to maintain this share.

•• Since 2015, Norway has used significant parts of its ODA budget to cover the costs of hosting refugees within the country. However, as the number of incoming refugees is sharply decreasing, pressure has been taken off the ODA budget and funds have been reallocated to development programs abroad.

Strategic priorities

•• Prime Minister Erna Solberg has defined education, and particularly girls’ education, as a top thematic priority. According to the 2017 budget, ODA spending on education is projected to increase to NOK3.4 billion (US$540 million) in 2017, double the amount spent in 2013 (NOK1.7 billion or US$270 million).

•• The approved 2017 budget highlights education, humanitarian assistance, private sector development and job creation, global health, and climate, environment, and sustainable energy as priorities of Norway’s development policy in 2017.

•• Climate change and tropical forest protection is a key issue for Norway. The Norwegian International Climate and Forest Initiative receives about NOK3 billion per year, or US$350 million, until 2020), and aims to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions resulting from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries. Key opportunities

•• Parliamentary elections will take place on September 11, 2017. While ODA is likely to remain at high levels, the outcome of the elections may lead to shifts in priority setting, and may provide opportunities to shape the future direction of Norway’s development policy.

•• The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is currently drafting a new ‘white paper’ to lay out the priorities of Norwegian ODA policy. Is it expected to be published in March or April 2017. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a ‘North Star’ for the government’s narrative on development, and will be at the heart of the new policy document. To engage effectively with the Norwegian government and other stakeholders, it is thus important to frame new initiatives and suggestions within the SDG context and empha- size the links between the individual goals.

•• Norway is focusing increasingly on involving the private sector in development cooperation and emphasizing public-private partnerships. Norway has significantly increased funding to Norfund, a state-owned investment fund. This may lead to more funding provided in the form of loans and eq- uity investments in coming years, however, Norfund’s investments have not yet been counted as ODA.

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KEY QUESTIONS the big six

How much ODA does Norway provide?

Norway is committed to continue spending 1% of its million). In 2016, ODA budget allocated for refugees in GNI on ODA Norway initially reached NOK7.4 billion (US$1.2 billion).

Norway is the ninth-largest donor country. It spent However, Norway’s restrictive refugee policy – including US$4.4 billion in 2016 (in current prices; US$6 billion in tighter border controls in Europe – implemented from 2014 prices).1 This represents 1.1% of its gross national in- early 2016 has led to a sharp decrease in the number of come (GNI), making Norway the largest donor in relation new asylum seekers. While the government had foreseen to the size of its economy. Norway is committed to main- a decrease in asylum applications in 2016 to 10,750 (down tain its ODA at ‘high levels’, continuing its policy of from more than 31,000 in 2015), only 3,460 asylum seek- spending 1% of its GNI on ODA. ODA is expected to re- ers actually applied. This is the lowest figure since 1997. main stable in 2017. This has taken pressure off the ODA budget, and Norway ‘saved’ NOK652 million (US$103 million) in the 2016 ODA In 2015 and 2016, Norway used part of its ODA budget to budget as a result of this. This funding was reallocated to cover the costs of hosting refugees within the country, by other development programs at the end of that budget reshuffling funding that had been previously allocated to year. The largest share of the reshuffled amount (NOK500 development programs abroad and finding additional million; US$663 million) was allocated to emergency hu- funding to allocate towards refugee costs. In 2015, this manitarian assistance to the Middle East, particularly represented 14% of Norway’s total ODA (US$598 million, for Syria. For 2017, the budget foresees NOK3.7 billion more than double the amount spent in 2014 – US$279 (US$594 million) for in-country refugee costs.

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What are Norway’s strategic priorities for development?

Education, humanitarian assistance, and global on climate change and the environment (2011), global health are among top priorities health (2012), fair distribution and growth (2013), global education (2014), the role of human rights in foreign and The Ministry for Foreign Affairs (MFA) sets priorities for development policy (2014), private-sector engagement in development policy in ‘white papers’, which summarize development cooperation (2015), human rights in devel- government strategies. The most relevant overarching opment policy (2015), and equality and foreign develop- paper for Norway’s ODA remains the 2009 white paper ment policy (2016). called ‘Climate, Conflict and Capital’. The MFA is currently working on a new policy paper that will lay out the Cross-cutting priority issues within Norwegian ODA are current priorities within development. The policy will be a focus on vulnerable states, human rights, democracy, aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). women's rights and gender equality, and fighting corrup- Two consultations with civil society have already taken tion. Regarding individual sectors, the government de- place. The paper is expected to be published sometime in fines five priorities for Norwegian development coopera- March or April 2017. Other important white papers focus tion: 1) education, 2) humanitarian assistance, 3) global

4 An initiative by SEEK Development March 2017 Norway Donor Profile health, 4) private sector development, and 5) climate, environment, and sustainable energy, which focuses on cli- Norway's key development priorities: mate-change adaptation and mitigation. •• Education: Norway fulfilled its commitment to Since Erna Solberg became prime minister in 2013, edu- double spending between 2013 and 2017, from cation and in particular girls’ education has been a key NOK1.7 billion (US$270 million) to NOK3.4 billion focus. Between 2013 and 2017, the government of Prime (US$540 million); focus is on girls’ education Minister Solberg has doubled its ODA spending on the sector, going from NOK1.7 billion (US$270 million) to •• Humanitarian assistance: A record NOK4.4 billion NOK3.4 billion (US$540 million). (US$698 million) has been budgeted for humanitarian assistance for 2017; up 50% since 2013 The impact of the refugee crisis in Norway has meant significant increases in budget allocated to humanitarian •• Global Health: The focus is on women’s and assistance. In 2017 this amount reached a record NOK4.4 children’s health as well as on fighting AIDS, billion (US$698 million). tuberculosis and malaria

Environmental protection and humanitarian assis- •• Private sector development and job creation: In tance are the largest sectors of bilateral funding 2017 Norway committed NOK1.17 billion (US$19 million) to business development and to Norfund Norway considers funding through multilateral organizations as an effective way to pursue its theme-focused •• Climate, environment, and sustainable energy: agenda termed ‘global schemes’. Core contributions to Proposed budget for 2017 of NOK2 billion (US$317 multilateral organizations accounted for 23% of ODA in million), with a focus on the Green Climate Fund 2015, or US$1.3 billion. On top of this, earmarked funding and the Global Environment Facility (GEF). to multilaterals is significant: it accounted for 30% of bilateral ODA in 2015, bringing the total amount of ODA delivered through multilateral organizations to US$2.5 million, or 46% of total ODA. Norway is traditionally a the Global Fund for 2017 to 2019, and NOK1.6 billion strong supporter of United Nations (UN) agencies, and is (US$258 million) to the Green Climate Fund for 2015 to set to channel NOK3.3 billion (US$524 million) to them in 2018. 2017, according to the ODA budget. As part of its forestry initiative (Norway’s International The strategic orientations of Norway’s ODA are reflected Climate and Forest Initiative; NICFI), Norway pledged in its bilateral funding. In 2015, the largest share was US$350 million annually until 2020 to reduce green- used to cover the costs of hosting refugees in the country house-gas emissions caused by deforestation. In addi- (14%; or US$594 million). In line with Norway’s strategic tion, Norway’s doubled its annual contribution to the priorities, the second- and third-largest sectors of bilater- Global Partnership for Education, from NOK290 million al ODA were environmental protection (12%; US$525 mil- in 2015 to NOK590 million in 2017 (close to US$100 million) and humanitarian assistance (12%; US$519 million). lion). The share for the environment is driven by programs to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions resulting from deforestation, particularly in Brazil (US$193 million in 2015). Funding to government and civil society (US$461 million; 11%), and to education (US$402 million; 11%) fol- low.

Global health is a top priority of Norway’s development policy, with the majority of this spending made up of multilateral core contributions. In total, Norway spent 14% of its ODA on health in 2015 (US$756 million). This includes both bilateral cooperation for health (US$302 million, or 7% of bilateral ODA), and core contributions to multilateral organizations (60% of total health ODA, or US$454 million). Key recipients are Gavi, the Vaccine Al- liance (Gavi) and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuber- culosis and Malaria (Global Fund).

Norway has made a range of international commitments in the sectors it prioritizes; the largest ones target humanitarian assistance, global health, and climate protection. They include, among others, a NOK10 billion alloca- tion for Syria and its neighboring countries for 2016 to 2020 (US$1.5 billion), NOK2 billion (US$304 million) for

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Who are the main actors in Norwegian development cooperation?

MFA steers strategy, embassies execute bilateral ity of development assistance. The MFA has more than programs 500 staff members working on development cooperation, half of whom are based in Norway’s embassies overseas. The minority government, formed by Prime Minister Within the MFA, the Department for Regional Affairs Erna Solberg’s Conservative Party (H) and the Progress manages bilateral development cooperation. The De- Party (FrP), has been in power since October 2013. Both partment for Economic Relations and Development is in coalition parties are traditionally skeptical of develop- charge of development policies, climate and the environment assistance. The government is supported by the ment, and multilateral development banks. The Depart- Liberal Party (V) and the Christian Democratic Party ment for UN and Humanitarian Affairs is responsible for (KrF), which cooperate with the government on an ad- multilateral cooperation with UN agencies, humanitari- hoc basis and are both supportive of development assis- an affairs and global initiatives. tance. The next parliamentary elections are set to take place on September 11, 2017, when a new government will Other relevant ministries include the Ministry of Climate be elected. and Environment, which manages the budget for the Norwegian International Climate and Forest Initiative The Ministry for Foreign Affairs (MFA), led by Minister (NICFI), and the Ministry of Justice, which manages Børge Brende (H), is responsible for setting the strategic budget lines for costs related to hosting refugees in Nor- direction of Norway’s development cooperation. Within way, partly reported as ODA. the MFA’s administrative leadership, State Secretaries Tone Skogen (H), Laila Bokhari (H), and Marit Berger Norway’s two major development agencies, Norad and Røsland (H) support the Minister in handling the the- Norfund, play key roles in policy development, priority matic development priorities. The directors of develop- setting, and implementation. Both agencies operate un- ment policy in the Department for Economic Relations der the supervision of the MFA. and Development, in the Section for Global Initiatives, in the Department of Regional Affairs are key civil servants •• Norad is responsible for providing advice and quality dedicated to development cooperation. assurance to the MFA and Norwegian embassies, con- ducting independent evaluations, communicating The MFA and Norway’s embassies administer the major- long-term development cooperation and results, and

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managing funds based on the strategic directions out- lined in the appropriation letter from the MFA. Norad has a staff count of 230 and is led by Director Jon Lomøy. It has no country offices, but provides techni- cal advice to embassies on the planning and implementation of bilateral programs. As of January 2017, Norad is responsible for the implementation of global health and education policies.

•• Norfund is a state-owned investment fund. Estab- lished in 1997, it supports private-sector activities in developing countries and focuses on renewable energy, agribusiness, and financial institutions. In 2015, Norfund was managing investments worth over NOK15 billion (US$2.4 billion) with a staff count of 68 employees; 10% ( NOK1.5 billion; US$0.24 billion) of this amount came from the ODA budget, a 25% increase compared to 2013.

Parliament: Within the Norwegian parliament, the Com- mittee of Foreign Affairs and Defense is in charge of development policy. Its main role is to scrutinize government and prepare recommendations on draft legislation. For instance, it comments and votes on the government’s ‘white papers’, which outline strategies regarding development and the MFA’s budget. Usually, Parliament only passes minor amendments to government drafts. In May 2016, a parliamentary group focusing on Africa was established to keep parliamentarians updated about devel- opments on the African continent through meetings, seminars, and delegation visits.

Civil Society: Norwegian civil society organizations (CSOs) and faith-based organizations play an important role in development policy. Domestically, Norwegian CSOs play an important role in educating the public about development issues, and act as watchdogs by criti- cally assessing Norway’s development policy and carry- ing out lobbying activities targeted at parliament and other governmental institutions. These organizations also implement development projects. In countries with regimes marked by oppression and discrimination, the Norwegian government prefers to work with CSOs. In total, 50 CSOs coordinate their advocacy and research work within the umbrella association, Forum for Utvikling og Miljø (Forum for Development and Environment; Fo- rUM).

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NORWAY'S DEVELOPMENT COOPERATION SYSTEM

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How is the Norwegian ODA budget structured?

Most assistance is managed by the MFA, which pro- millions millions Overview: the 2017 ODA budget vides large amounts of funding through ‘global NOK US$ schemes’ budget envelopes Ministry of Foreign Affiars 31,677 5,027 Administration costs 1,889 300 According to the 2017 budget, ODA is set to stand at NOK34.6 billion (US$5.5 billion) in 2017. ODA comes from Bilateral spending 3,588 569 two main sources: the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) Africa 2,320 368 and the Ministry of Climate and Environment. Asia 612 97 Middle East and North Africa 556 88 The MFA provides 92% (NOK32 billion or US$5 billion) of Latin America 100 16 the ODA budget. The MFA’s budget for development assistance is divided into four major envelopes: 1) adminis- Global Schemes 20,832 3,306 trative costs, 2) bilateral spending, 3) ‘global schemes’, Civil society and democracy 2,239 355 and 4) multilateral spending. The ‘bilateral spending’ Business development 1,669 265 envelope is composed of budget lines for regions (Africa, Transitional assistance 203 32 Asia, Middle East and North Africa, and Latin America). Emergency aid, humanitarian aid and 4,734 751 The ‘multilateral spending’ envelope is divided into human rights budget lines for funding for UN agencies and multilateral Peace, reconciliation and democracy 1,136 180 financial institutions. Research, capacity building and evaluation 604 96 Climate, environment and renewable The 'global schemes’ envelope receives by far the largest 1,268 201 energy funding by the MFA, amounting to 60% of all Norway’s ODA expenditures in 2017: it combines bilateral and mul- Costs for refugees in Norway 3,743 594 tilateral funding for thematic priorities, and also include Women's rights and gender equality 317 50 the costs for hosting refugees within Norway and ODA Global Health and education 4,919 781 channeled through civil society organizations (CSOs). Multilateral spending 3,588 569 ‘Global health and education’, a thematic budget line UN agencies 3,301 524 since 2015, includes, among others, funding for the Glob- al Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria (Global Multilateral financial institutions 1,797 285 Fund), Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance (Gavi), and the Interna- Debt relief 270 43 tional Finance Facility for Immunization (IFFIm). Ministry of Climate and Environment 2,807 445 Ministry of Finance 42 7 In addition, the Ministry of Climate and Environment Office of the Auditor General 39 6 provides NOK2.8 billion (US$445 million) in ODA, mainly for Norway’s International Climate and Forest Initia- Total ODA Budget 34,564 5,485 tive (NICFI). The initiative aims to slow, halt, and eventu- Source: MFA budget draft 2017, parliamentary and govenmernt amendments ally reduce greenhouse-gas emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries.

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What are important decision-making opportunities in Norway's annual budget process?

Indicative ministerial budget ceiling is set in March; tween the members of the coalition parties (Conserva- budget details are determined from April to August tive Party and Progress Party) and the two supporting parties (Liberal Party and Christian Democrats). The The Ministry of Finance starts its work on the state Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defense budget approximately one year before it is presented to may propose amendments. However, in practice, the Parliament. The decision-making process follows the Committee on Finance leads on reallocations between budget calendar, which stays the same from year to year. budget lines.

•• Ministries prepare initial internal budget drafts: •• Parliament approves budget: By mid-December, From November to February, Norad and Norwegian the Parliament signs off on the budget for the upcom- embassies give their budget suggestions to ministries, ing year. which in turn start their preparations for developing their budget for the following year. Key stakeholders during this period are leaders at the Norwegian embassies, Norad, and Ministry for Foreign Affairs’ leadership.

•• First budget conference – Cabinet decides on indicative ministerial budget ceilings: By March, Norwegian embassies and Norway’s development agency Norad have prepared their preliminary internal budgets for development programs. MFA and No- rad leadership ultimately make decisions on budget allocations. However, civil servants within the MFA and Norwegian embassies are important influencers at this time regarding funding to specific countries. In addition, embassies start to identify bilateral projects for the coming year. Ministerial budget proposals are presented to the Cabinet at its first budget conference in March, on the basis of which the Cabinet sets indicative budget ceilings for each ministry.

•• The MFA further refines internal budgets: Once the Cabinet has set ceilings, the MFA further develops its budget from April to July. Requests for increases need to be strategically targeted towards the MFA’s Departments for Regional Affairs and Development, UN and Humanitarian Affairs, and Economic Rela- tions and Development.

•• Second budget conference – Cabinet makes final decision on overall draft budget: Usually in late Au- gust, the Cabinet holds its second budget conference to agree on final ministerial budget caps. At this stage, the Cabinet approves the overall ODA volume and funding for major initiatives; it usually does not debate further details of the ODA budget.

•• Parliament debates draft budget: From October to November, Parliament debates the government’s budget draft. The Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs can amend the proposed ceilings and detailed allocations for main expenditure areas up until November. Under the current government, amendments to the ODA budget are negotiated be-

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How is Norway’s ODA spent?

Multilateral organizations are regarded as an effec- does so to reduce the debt burden of low-income coun- tive way to support development cooperation tries. In parallel, the government under Prime Minister Solberg is increasingly focusing on private-sector devel- Norway considers multilateral organizations an effective opment, through Norfund. Norfund is a state-owned in- way to pursue its theme-focused development agenda. vestment fund that supports private-sector activities in This is reflected in Norway’s long-standing support to developing countries. In 2016, its investments increased UN agencies. by US$33 million, to reach US$186 million. These investments are not reported as ODA to the OECD, but are an Core funding for multilaterals together accounted for increasing channel through which Norway contributes 46% of total ODA in 2015 (DAC average 50%). Core multi- to sustainable growth in developing countries. lateral ODA accounted for a relatively low share of total ODA (23%) in 2015. The remaining 23% was provided as earmarked funding to multilateral organizations, which Who are Norway’s ODA recipients? is reported as bilateral ODA. Since 2011, much of the additional funding for ODA has been channeled through ear- Norway’s bilateral assistance has a major focus on marked funding to multilaterals, in support of Norway’s low-income countries thematic initiatives. Between 2011 and 2015, earmarked funding increased by 31%, to reach US$1.3 billion in 2015. Norway focuses its bilateral ODA strongly on low-income Alongside multilaterals, civil society organizations countries. Because of the high share of bilateral ODA that (CSOs) implement a large share of Norway’s bilateral as- is not reported as being allocated to a specific country sistance: in 2015, 24% of bilateral ODA was channeled (51% between 2013 and 2015, due to high costs of hosting through CSOs (well above the 17% average among mem- refugees, earmarked funding to multilaterals, and sup- bers of the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) of port to CSOs), low-income countries officially accounted the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Devel- for only one-quarter of bilateral ODA over that period. opment (OECD)). The remaining share of bilateral ODA However, when only considering bilateral ODA allocated was mostly implemented in country programs by Norwe- to specific countries, low-income countries received just gian embassies and the Norwegian Agency for Develop- over half (51%) of bilateral ODA. Norway allocates the ment Cooperation (Norad). largest share of its bilateral ODA to sub-Saharan Africa.

In 2015, Norway channeled all bilateral ODA as grants. It

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According to the MFA’s white paper on private sector de- and sends them to the embassies once the budget is ap- velopment in Norwegian development cooperation from proved. During the budget drafting period, funding pri- 2015, the government is committed to concentrating orities for the coming year can still be influenced, al- ODA on fewer countries, and in 2015 reduced the number though Norway usually focuses on the same of its recipient countries from 116 to 85. A heightened fo- long-standing priority sectors. Key influencers include cus will be placed on 12 countries that are divided into leadership and program officers in Norwegian embas- two groups: 1) fragile countries where support focuses on sies, and regional sections within the MFA’s Department stabilization and peacekeeping (Afghanistan, Haiti, for Regional Affairs and Development. Mali, Palestine, Somalia, and South Sudan), and 2) countries in the process of development where programs fo- Programming of bilateral ODA is led by the Norwegian cus on the private sector, and on resource and revenue embassies. Embassies have ample financial and pro- management (Ethiopia, Malawi, Mozambique, Myan- gramming authority within the priorities set by the an- mar, Nepal, and Tanzania). nual appropriation letters. They develop annual work plans and agreements for bilateral programs, which are Since 2015, programs in countries not included in the then reviewed by Norad. Embassies usually make com- 85-country list (mostly upper-middle income countries) mitments to partner countries over a three-year period. are being phased out. Norway’s on-going forestry invest- However, exact annual funding levels are only deter- ment as part of the Norwegian International Climate and mined in the appropriation letters, and such multi-year Forest Initiative (NICFI) drives high levels of ODA to cer- commitments are only made for programs directly ad- tain countries. For instance, nearly all of Norway’s fund- ministered by the embassies. ing to Brazil – the largest recipient of Norway’s ODA between 2013 and 2015 – is channeled through the NICFI.

How is bilateral funding programmed?

Embassies lead programming of bilateral cooperation

Annual appropriation letters form the basis for ODA programming. The letters outline priorities for the following year. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) develops the letters (with input from embassies, Norad, and experts),

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NORWAY outlook

How will Norwegian's ODA develop?

•• Norway has spent at least 1% of its GNI on ODA since 2013, and the 2017 budget is set to reach slightly higher levels. While future ODA levels are dependent on the outcome of the 2017 elections, the ODA/GNI share is expected to remain at around 1%. There is a cross-party consensus to keep ODA at this level.

•• The 1% commitment means that it is likely that Norway’s ODA will increase in absolute terms if the economy continues to grow. However, reduced oil prices in 2016 have put pressure on public expenditures as Norway’s oil rev- enues have decreased. This will likely limit the number of new development-related initiatives launched by the government and might require a prioritization of initiatives it supports.

What will Norway’s ODA focus on?

•• Norway’s current top priorities, including education, humanitarian assistance, private sector development and job creation, global health, and climate, environment, and sustainable energy, will remain in focus throughout 2017.

•• Beyond 2017, strategic priorities may shift, depending on the outcome of the elections in September 2017. Over the past two decades global health has traditionally been a focus area for Norwegian ODA, and therefore may remain so despite a change in government. The focus on education is po- tentially more subject to change given that it is a concrete focus of the current leadership.

What are key opportunities for shaping Norway’s development policy?

•• The election campaigns in the run-up to the parliamentary elections in September 2017 present opportunities to engage with leadership in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), parliament, and civil society, and work towards modifying or strengthening Norway’s thematic priorities and future levels of funding. There is some question as to whether the 1% commitment should be set for a period of years rather than annually reconfirmed as part of the budget process. This debate was triggered by a proposal in a development paper published in September 2016 by the Christian Demo- cratic Party.

•• Prime Minister Erna Solberg has made education a cornerstone of development policy during her tenure, with a particular focus on girls’ education. This provides opportunities to leverage more funding for areas with close links to education.

•• The MFA is working on developing a new white paper to set the direction of Norway’s development policy. It is expected to be published by April 2017. In this process, the government is undertaking public consultations. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) will be a key pillar of the new frame- work. Linking initiatives with the SDGs is thus crucial when engaging with the Norwegian government and other stakeholders.

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DEEP DIVES topics

Norway’s global health ODA

Global health is a top priority for Norway’s ODA policy Norway’s priority countries for bilateral health cooperation Norway has been a strong actor in global health over the past ten years. Former Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg •• India placed global health on the government’s agenda, and •• Malawi current Prime Minister Erna Solberg has maintained this •• Nigeria focus. Norway’s political leadership, diplomacy and eco- •• Tanzania nomic support are intended to attract new sources of fi- •• Pakistan nancing for global health.

Norway’s ODA to health stood at US$755 million in 2015 way’s initial commitment to the GFF amounted to and accounted for 14% of its total ODA (DAC average: 9%). US$600 million (NOK3 billion) for the 2016-2020 funding Norway has steadily increased its support for health period. It pledged an additional US$200 million to the since 2013 (from US$676 million) through increased en- GFF at the Family Planning Summit for 2013 to 2020. In gagement with health-related multilateral organizations. March 2017, Norway announced a contribution of rough- Norway’s white paper on Global Health in Foreign and ly €10 million to the ‘She Decides’ initiative – an initia- Development Policy (2011) outlines three priorities for tive launched in response to the cut in funding by the the sector: 1) mobilizing at an international level for United States to organizations providing abortion-relat- women’s and children’s rights and health, 2) reducing the ed services. burden of disease, with an emphasis on prevention, and 3) promoting human security through health. In 2015, Norway’s bilateral ODA to health amounted to US$302 million (40% of its total health ODA). Almost half In September 2016, Norad published a case study on Nor- of this amount is channeled as earmarked funding way's engagement in global efforts to improve maternal through multilaterals (47%; US$143 million), bringing and child health. The report concluded that Norway was the total amount of health ODA through multilateral or- highly successful in creating considerable political mo- ganizations to US$598 million. Priority areas for bilateral mentum internationally, which has increased both pub- cooperation include reproductive health care (30% in lic and private commitments to maternal and child 2015), health systems strengthening (19%), and infectious health globally. disease control (11%).

In 2015, Norway channeled US$454 million (60% of its Norway is increasingly connecting health with other are- health ODA, DAC average 55%) to multilateral organiza- as of development cooperation. For example, it facilitated tions as core contributions. Key recipients of multilateral a resolution on ‘health and the environment’ at the World ODA to health in 2015 were Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance Health Organization (WHO), which was adopted by the (Gavi), the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and World Health Assembly in May 2015. The resolution gives Malaria (Global Fund), and the United Nations Popula- WHO a strong mandate to work on mitigating the effects tion Fund (UNFPA). Norway is set to be the second-larg- of air pollution on health, and considerably scale up its est government donor to Gavi after the United Kingdom activities in the area. for 2016 to 2020 (NOK6.25 billion, US$1 billion). Strategic orientations for global health are set with- With regards to international commitments, Norway has in the MFA pledged NOK2 billion (US$304 million) to the Global Fund for 2017 to 2019, and committed US$212 million for Norway’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to 2014 to 2019 to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative the United Nations and Other International Organiza- (GPEI). tions in Geneva, currently represented by Hans Brattskar, is a key actor in the implementation of Norway’s multilat- In September 2014, Norway co-launched the Global Fi- eral funding for health. The Mission in Geneva repre- nancing Facility (GFF) in support of the ‘Every Woman sents Norway at WHO and participates in the governance Every Child’ initiative, in partnership with the World of global health organizations. Within the MFA, the De- Bank and the governments of Canada and the US. Nor- partment for Economic Relations and Development has a

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Development Policy Section, which has responsibility for to take responsibility for global health and education, education and global health investments. Aslak Brun which had previously been managed by the MFA. The heads this section. Bilateral relations are handled by the implications of this change are as yet unclear. As a result, individual bilateral departments, under the Department however, Norad’s budget has increased for 2017. Norad’s of Regional Affairs. Strategic priorities have historically department of global health and education, is in charge been set by the MFA, however, in January 2017, the MFA’s of global health under the Director-General of Norad. appropriation letter to Norad articulated that Norad was

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DEEP DIVES topics

Norway’s global health R&D

Global health R&D spending is low and has de- ing the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation, creased Norad).

In 2015, Norway provided US$7 million for research and RCN distributed just over half of global health R&D fund- development (R&D) on poverty-related and neglected ing in 2015 (53%). RCN serves as the advisory body for the diseases (PRNDs), referred to as ‘global health R&D’ in government authorities on research policy issues. It this profile.2 Norway distributes this funding across mul- awards research grants and is overseen by the Ministry of tiple diseases, including tuberculosis (US$2 million, or Research. The RCN follows the research policy guidelines 26% of its global health R&D funding), HIV/AIDS (21%), of the government and parliament, and additionally ad- and African viral haemorrhagic fever (18%). vises the government. The MFA, including Norad, provides the remaining global health R&D funding (47% in Norway’s global health research strategy mainly focuses 2015). on health research in the field of immunization. In this context, the government supports and hosts the perma- These two institutions also work collaboratively to chan- nent secretariat of the newly-established Coalition for nel financing to global health R&D. For example, the ‘Pro- Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI). CEPI is a gram for Global Health and Vaccination Research’ global vaccine development fund aiming to shorten the (GLOBVAC), a joint program by Norad and the RCN, plays development time of new vaccines in case of an epidemic a crucial role in Norwegian knowledge production. such as Ebola. Norway’s strategy documents also empha- GLOBVAC strengthens the national capacity in global size research related to communicable diseases in devel- health and vaccine research, while also contributing to oping countries, as well as research to strengthen its capacity building in developing countries GLOBVAC knowledge base on non-communicable diseases. plans to deliver NOK594 million (US$94 million) in financing for 2012-2020; NOK120 million (US$19 million) Public funding for global health R&D is provided by was allocated in 2017. GLOBVAC focuses on vaccination two main organizations in Norway research and other research with potential for high impact that can contribute to improvements in health equi- Two major public institutions in Norway provide funding ty in developing countries. for global health R&D: the Research Council of Norway (RCN) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA; includ-

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Norway’s agriculture ODA Fisheries are responsible for the program’s funding and Agriculture is not among Norway’s top development implementation, and the secretariat sits within Norad. priorities Norad’s Department for Climate, Energy, Environ- Norway spent US$219 million on ODA to agriculture and ment and Research leads on agriculture rural development in 2015. This corresponds to 4% of its ODA, which is below the members’ of the OECD’s Devel- Because a lot of Norway’s support for agriculture is chan- opment Assistance Committee average of 7%. Though neled through private-sector development, research pro- agriculture is not a major priority within Norwegian de- grams, and international financing channels (e.g., the velopment policy, it has the potential to gain importance FAO, IFAD, the World Food Program (WFP)), and CGIAR), as part of Norway’s growing engagement in action on cli- the most relevant departments in setting agriculture pri- mate change. Norway joined the new Global Alliance for orities within the MFA are the Department for UN and Climate-Smart Agriculture, launched at the UN Climate Humanitarian Questions, the Section for UN Politics Summit in September 2016. (headed by Hans Jacob Frydenlund), and the Private Sec- tor Section under the Department for Economy and De- Unlike with health, Norway channels the vast share of its velopment (headed by Katja Nordgaard). The Norwegian ODA to agriculture and rural development through bilat- Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad) is the key eral cooperation: this share amounted to US$164 million stakeholder responsible for implementing agricultural in 2015, or 75% of agriculture ODA. The sub-sector that programs. Its Department of Climate, Energy and Envi- received the largest amount of funding was agricultural ronment and the Section for Environment and Food Se- development (16% of agriculture ODA), followed by policy curity both steer programming. and administrative management (13%), agriculture ex- tension (training on more effective farming), and rural development (12% each).

About a third of Norway’s bilateral cooperation is in fact channeled to multilateral organizations as earmarked funding (US$48 million in 2015). For instance, US$19 million went to specific programs carried out by the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

Core multilateral contributions to agriculture and rural development stood at US$55 million in 2015. The largest recipients were the World Bank’s International Develop- ment Association (IDA, 37% of total bilateral ODA to agriculture), the African Development Fund (AfDF; 25%), and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD, 23%). Norway also supports the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR): funding stood at US$10 million in 2015. In addition, Nor- way started funding the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) in 2015. The government plans on allo- cating NOK4.5 million (US$700,000) per year to the alliance until 2020.

Norway is increasingly engaged in sustainable fishery management. In 2016, Norway launched a national program, ‘Fish for Development’, with funding of US$150 million for 2016 to 2020. The Norwegian government sees this program as a way to reduce poverty through promoting food security, sustainable fisheries management, and more profitable business activities. The Ministry of For- eign Affairs (MFA) and the Norwegian Directorate of

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DEEP DIVES topics

Norway’s nutrition ODA

Nutrition is an important cross-cutting area of Nor- way’s development policy Nutrition-sensitive: Interventions that address underlying causes of malnutrition and that take Nutrition plays a role in Norway’s development policy as into account cross-sector actions and impacts part of its focus on global health, and specifically within (i.e., improving access to diverse foods). maternal and child health policy. It is not a top stand- alone priority for Norway. Due to nutrition’s inclusion Nutrition-specific:Interventions that address within other development areas, quantifying Norway’s immediate causes of undernutrition and have overall engagement in the area of nutrition is difficult. the improvement of nutrition (i.e., support for exclusive breastfeeding, supplementary feed- According to OECD Development Assistance Committee ing, etc.) as their primary objective. (DAC) data, Norway spent just US$2 million as bilateral ODA on basic nutrition in 2015. However, its total investments in nutrition are much higher: on the multilateral level, the Norwegian government has pledged US$111 million to the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutri- tion (New Alliance) in 2014. The New Alliance, a multi-sectoral partnership, aims to achieve sustained agriculture-led growth in Africa and is committed to reducing poverty and hunger through accelerated implementation of food security strategies throughout Africa.

The MFA leads Norway’s nutrition policy

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) shapes Norway’s policy on nutrition. Within the MFA, the Department for Economic Relations and Development in the Develop- ment Policy Section, is a relevant actor. In the past, senior advisor Åse Elin Laura Bjerke, Section for Global Initia- tives, has taken a lead role on nutrition, together with Bodil Blaker, the Specialist Director at the Ministry of Health and Care Services.

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ENDNOTES

1 ‘2015 prices’ refers to the actual ODA amount disbursed in 2015. This figure is commonly used when comparing About the Donor Tracker ODA across donors in 2015. To compare ODA levels in 2015 with ODA levels provided in previous years, figures The Donor Tracker seeks to advance and support need to be measured in constant prices. This means that progress in global development by providing advo- the ODA amounts in each year are adjusted taking into cates with easy access to high-quality quantitative account the effect of inflation and of exchange rate fluc- and qualitative strategic information to support their tuations. The OECD provides ODA data in constant prices work. using 2014 as the base year (i.e. ‘2014 prices’). In this profile, we thus generally state ODA figures in ‘2014 prices’ to The Donor Tracker is a unique online resource that ensure data is comparable over time. offers free, independent, up-to-date analysis of 14 major OECD donors. Covering 90% of the world’s 2 According to G-FINDER data. G-FINDER is a data official development assistance (ODA), the Donor source developed by Policy Cures Research which pro- Tracker provides data-driven insights on strategic vides information on global investments into R&D for ne- priorities, funding trends, decision-making and key glected diseases. The figures are based on the G-FINDER opportunities. survey, which covers a select group of products in need of R&D (drugs, vaccines and diagnostics for diseases that www.donortracker.org meet the following three criteria: the disease dispropor- tionally affects people living in developing countries, there is a need for new products, and the commercial in- centives are insufficient to attract R&D by the private -in dustry). For more information see: Policy Cures Research, Neglected Disease Research and Development: A Pivotal Moment for Global Health, G-FINDER 2016.

21 An initiative by SEEK Development March 2017