“From Development Aid to Development Policy” Following the Norwegian guidelines and criteria set for main partners of development cooperation - the choice of Mozambique and Sri Lanka in 1977 Malene Jordal Aase Master’s thesis in History Department of Archaeology, Conservation and History University of Oslo Spring 2020 II “From Development Aid to Development Policy” Following the Norwegian guidelines and criteria set for main partners of development cooperation - the choice of Mozambique and Sri Lanka in 1977 III © 2020 Malene Jordal Aase “From Development Aid to Development Policy” Following the Norwegian guidelines and criteria set for main partners of development cooperation - the choice of Mozambique and Sri Lanka in 1977 Malene Jordal Aase www.duo.uio.no Print: Reprosentralen, The University of Oslo IV Abstract After the Second World War, international relations changed, tensions evolved, and the era of modern foreign aid was on the rise. Norway entered the international community of foreign aid through multilateral channels, such as the United Nations, and on a bilateral level through the Kerala project in India in 1952. As a small country, with limited funds in the start-up phase, the Norwegian Government decided in 1967 that the aid had to be concentrated towards a limited amount of countries, referred to as main partners of development cooperation, for it to be as efficient as possible. When choosing these partner countries, specific guidelines and criteria were made, and to some extent, followed. This thesis explores the Norwegian Government's choice to make Mozambique and Sri Lanka main partners of development cooperation in 1977, and to which degree the guidelines and criteria for main partners were followed and respected in this regard. The choice of these two new main partners led to tensions in the Norwegian political landscape in the field of foreign aid, a field which had previously based itself on consensus. The guidelines and criteria can be summed into five categories; 1) Geographical location; 2) Norwegian resources and business; 3) The recipient country’s domestic policies; (4) That the recipient country would implement and practice the UN guidelines on economic, social and civil rights under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights from 1948, and; 5) The Norwegian main partners of development cooperation should be amongst the least developed and poorest countries for Norwegian aid to help those who needed it the most. The main question, which is discussed throughout the thesis, is whether the practice of foreign aid to the main partners followed the rhetoric's used by the Norwegian Government and representatives both on a national and international level. This cannot be answered with a simple yes or no, as the finding shows that the interpretation of these guidelines was very much connected to each partner country's unique situation. V VI Acknowledgements I want to thank Daniel Maul for being my supervisor in the period between autumn 2018 till today. Thank you for the support and the constructive and helpful feedback throughout this process. I would also like to thank the University of Oslo, and especially the administration at the Department of Archaeology, Conservation and History for their handling and facilitation of the last semester regarding the Covid-19 virus, which provided unforeseen challenges and limitations to this process. Furthermore, I would like to thank my family and friends for their support. To Mamma and Pappa, Lida and Mille – thank you for always having my back and for the endless love and laughter. To Karoline, Sindre and Claus – thank you for all the fun we have and for being there for me throughout my up’s and down’s. And finally, to Celine – thank you for these past two years, for believing in me and for being my friend. Oslo June 12, 2020 VII TABLE OF CONTENT Abstract ........................................................................................................................................ V Acknowledgements .................................................................................................................... VII List of Abbervations ...................................................................................................................... X Maps .......................................................................................................................................... XII CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION..................................................................................... 1 Presentation of thesis and research question .................................................................................... 2 International framework: Modern foreign aid ................................................................................. 3 A New International Economic Order......................................................................................... 5 The 1970s: New perspectives and new voices ............................................................................. 7 Scandinavia................................................................................................................................ 9 Theoretical framework ................................................................................................................... 9 Postcolonialism ........................................................................................................................ 11 Dependency theory .................................................................................................................. 12 Post-development theory .......................................................................................................... 14 Historiography ......................................................................................................................... 14 Methodological framework: choices, challenges and limitations ................................................... 19 CHAPTER TWO: NORWEGIAN FOREIGN AID AND THE GUIDELINES FOR MAIN PARTNERS OF DEVELOPMENT COOPERATION ......................................................... 22 Foreign aid ................................................................................................................................... 22 Multilateral and bilateral aid ..................................................................................................... 24 Formal guidelines and criteria – motives behind foreign aid .......................................................... 25 One: The Principle of Concentration ............................................................................................. 28 South Asia ............................................................................................................................... 32 South-East Africa ..................................................................................................................... 33 Two: Norwegian resources ........................................................................................................... 34 Forms of aid ............................................................................................................................. 35 Three: From development aid to development policy .................................................................... 38 Four: The issue of human rights as a criterion for aid .................................................................... 41 Norway in the UN: rhetoric versus practice .............................................................................. 42 The national debate and discourse of human rights and partner countries .................................. 43 Five: The least developed countries .............................................................................................. 47 “The poor” – who were they? ................................................................................................... 48 VIII CHAPTER THREE: NORWAY AND MOZAMBIQUE – A STORY OF “THE LEFT” ..... 51 Norway and Portugal – alliance and disagreements ....................................................................... 53 Norway takes a stand on Portuguese colonialism .......................................................................... 55 The issue of the Mozambican liberation movement enters Norwegian debate ................................ 60 Eduardo Mondlane visits Norway............................................................................................. 60 Norwegian support to the Mozambique Institute ........................................................................... 63 Assistance to liberation movements – priorities and guidelines ..................................................... 65 Attitude towards assistance to liberation movements..................................................................... 69 Political tensions concerning Mozambique as a main partner country ........................................... 72 Joint Nordic assistance to Mozambique ........................................................................................ 74 Why Mozambique? ...................................................................................................................... 79 CHAPTER FOUR: NORWAY AND SRI LANKA – AN ATTEMPT TO BREAK DEPENDENCY .................................................................................................................. 82 The political situation in Sri Lanka in the 1970s ..........................................................................