Policy Updates

On May 7, 2024, Norad presented the statistics on Norwegian development assistance in 2023, showing that Norwegian ODA reached a record high of NOK58.6 billion (US$5.4 billion), an increase of 18% or NOK9 billion (US$832 million) compared to 2022.

ODA increased in all regions, significantly affected by the one-time additional allocation of NOK5 billion (US$462 million) to LICs particularly affected by Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

By region, the largest increase in ODA was to Europe. In total, European countries received NOK9.1 billion (US$842 million) in funding. Of the total European allocation, the largest share of funding went to Ukraine and Moldova. The funding to Ukraine in 2023 stood at NOK7.9 billion (US$730 million).

Development assistance to the African continent increased by NOK2.5 billion (US$321 million), reaching a total of NOK10.2 billion (US$943 million). Africa remains the region receiving the most development assistance from Norway. The increase in funding to Africa is explained by long-term assistance to agriculture, fisheries, food security and emergency relief.

Development assistance to the Middle East increased by over NOK1 billion (US$92 million), reaching NOK3.8 billion (US$351 million) in 2023. The increase was almost exclusively in emergency assistance. Palestine was the second-largest recipient of Norwegian development assistance in 2023, receiving NOK1.2 billion (US$111 million). The majority of the funding was given as humanitarian assistance and emergency relief.

By partner, multilateral organizations were the largest partner group for Norwegian ODA, followed by CSOs and the public sector. Multilaterals received NOK31.7 billion (US$2.9 billion) in 2023, an increase of NOK6.3 billion (US$582 billion) from 2022. CSOs received NOK13.2 billion (US$1.2 billion) in 2023, compared to NOK10.3 billion (US$952 million) in 2022.

The World Bank Group was the largest partner with NOK7.4 billion (US$684 million) in 2023, of which slightly over one-fifth was core support. The WFP was the second-largest recipient with NOK2.4 billion (US$222 million), approximately half of which was earmarked for emergency relief. Overall, multilateral organizations were the dominant partner group for Norwegian health assistance, with over 80% being channeled through multilateral partners in 2023.

By sector, emergency relief and multisectoral support saw the largest growth from 2022 to 2023, while there was a decrease in refugee expenses and earmarked assistance for education.

ODA to agriculture, fisheries, and food security significantly increased from NOK3.9 billion (US$360 million) in 2022 to NOK6.4 billion (US$592 million) in 2023. Most of the increase of NOK2.5 billion (US$231 million) was funded by the one-time funding package for LICs particularly affected by Russia's war against Ukraine.

Total Norwegian ODA to health stood at NOK6.5 billion (US$601 million) in 2023, up from NOK6.3 billion (US$582 million) in 2022. This is significantly lower than in 2020 and 2021, when development assistance globally was influenced by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Between 2014 and 2023, health assistance slightly increased when measured in 2024 prices, from NOK4.7 billion (US$434 million) in 2014. The largest partners in health assistance in 2023 were Gavi at NOK1.5 billion (US$138 million), UNFPA at NOK1.1 billion (US$101 million) and the WHO at NOK687 million (US$63.5 million). Of the earmarked health ODA, totaling NOK3.5 billion (US$323 million) in 2023, 58% went to programs targeting LICs not geographically earmarked. Africa received the most of the geographically earmarked health support, with around NOK600 million (US$55.5 million).

In 2023, NOK1.7 billion (US$157 million) went to SRHR, down from NOK1.8 billion (US$166 million) in 2022. Multilateral organizations, an important partner group in Norwegian SRHR efforts, received 51% of the earmarked support in addition to the calculated core support, totaling 81% of SRHR support. UNFPA was the largest individual partner and received nearly half of total SRHR support.

On May 3, 2024, Australian Minister for International Development and the Pacific Pat Conroy announced a pledge of AUD492 million (US$317 million) to the Asian Development Funds’ 14^th pledging round, covering the period of 2025–2028.

The low-interest financing arm of the ADB focuses on grants to lower-income countries. Conroy emphasized the value of these grants to regional needs such as climate resilient hospitals and education facilities, as well is improving the systems that run them.

Conroy indicated Australia had worked with representatives from Kiribati and the Cook Islands to ensure that more funding would be received by the Pacific. An increase of over AUD500 million (US$323 million) was expected for the Pacific, compared to the previous replenishment.

Australia has also pursued arrangements to ensure access to finance for people in Afghanistan, Myanmar, and the Rohingya refugee population in Bangladesh, particularly women and girls. Australia urged the ADB and the World Bank to improve their procurement processes by avoiding approving artificially low-priced, poor-quality projects where higher prices were later demanded during implementation. Conroy encouraged tender processes to focus more strongly on quality and value for money and expressed concerned that low bid prices were discouraging a broader range of bidders from seeking work, particularly in the Pacific countries.

Australia is the second-largest contributor to the fund, behind Japan.

On May 2, 2024, the UK government responded to the ICAI, the UK’s aid watchdog, recommendations for tackling fraud in UK ODA funding.

The FCDO thanked ICAI for reviewing the UK's approach to combating fraud in ODA funding released earlier in 2024. The FCDO partially accepted ICAI’s first recommendation to take a more robust and proactive approach to anticipating fraud. The FCDO noted that it was actively exploring the cost-effectiveness of creating an FCDO Fraud Intelligence Unit and was expanding its Fraud Liaison Officers’ Network to strengthen oversight.

The FCDO also partially accepted the second recommendation to strengthen its fraud in its top 20 ODA recipient countries, noting that it will reinforce the mandatory annual assurance assessment across control and risk areas and expand its Fraud Liaison Officer's network.

The FCDO fully accepted the final two recommendations, which called for new fraud management guidance to be written for capital investments and to increase the Head of Mission’s oversight and accountability for fraud risks relating to centrally managed and other government programs.

On April 30, 2024, it was announced that, as a part of the G7 Finance Track, the Italian MEF and ISTAT will host the seventh edition of the OECD World Forum on Wellbeing, entitled Strengthening Wellbeing Approaches for a Changing World, in Rome from November 4-6, 2024.

The event is part of the G7 Finance Track promoted by the Italian government. The Forum will be structured into five round tables that will discuss topics, including:

• The development of policy frameworks oriented towards equitable and sustainable well-being;
• The measurement and statistical methodology, as well as the analysis of well-being indicators;
• Climate change;
• Technological innovation and the use of artificial intelligence; and
• The next steps in the well-being agenda.

Other topics to be addressed include gender inequalities, inequalities and poverty, physical and mental health, and the aging population.

On April 15, 2024, Canadian Minister of International Development Ahmed Hussen participated in the International Humanitarian Conference for Sudan and its Neighbours, where he announced CAD132million (US$96 million) in international assistance funding to Sudan and neighbouring Central African Republic, Chad, Ethiopia, and South Sudan.

The announcement included nearly CAD101 million (US$73 million) in humanitarian assistance and nearly CAD32 million (US$23 million) in development assistance amid the ongoing armed conflict in Sudan. The funding is slated to provide crisis-affected people with emergency health services, food and nutrition assistance, protection services for gender-based violence survivors, and other assistance including shelter, water, and sanitation services. The development assistance will support critical programming in SRHR and education infrastructure.

On April 15, 2024, USAID announced a new US government-wide strategy on international basic education, bringing together ten US government entities to reaffirm its commitment to an inclusive and quality education worldwide.

The strategy spans from 2024-2029 and is intended to expand the reach of the previous strategy, particularly for those most marginalized. It stated the intent to learn from the lessons of COVID-19 and make educational systems more resilient and inclusive. The strategy will implement four approaches, including local ownership, capacity strengthening, equity and inclusion, and data based decision-making.

On April 11, 2024, the US announced that it will provide an additional US$25 million in assistance to refugees in the Uganda. The resources from both the Department of State and USAID will go to the UN High Commission on Refugees and the WFP.

The resources will be used to support food, health care, and education, as well as other emergency support to refugees whom have fled South Sudan, the DRC, Somalia, and Sudan. The US noted that Uganda has the highest number of refugees in Africa, having received more than 130,000 refugees in 2023.

The US separately called out a 2024 ruling of the Ugandan court, which had upheld a controversial anti-homosexual law, stating that the US was committed to ensuring that all assistance would be delivered without discrimination.

In advance of the Paris International Humanitarian Conference for Sudan and it Neighbors, Power also announced an additional US$100 million in emergency assistance for the 25 million people who have been affected by the civil war in Sudan. Five million people are close to famine and eight million have been displaced. USAID also called out the violence being perpetrated on the people of Sudan by both sides of the armed conflict. The emergency assistance will include food, nutrition, and other services. This brings total US humanitarian assistance for Sudan to over US$1 billion.

On April 12, 2024, it was announced that South Korea was elected to the Executive Boards of UNICEF and the WFP for the 2025-2027 term.

The WFP Executive Board provides policy guidance and oversees all activities as the highest decision-making body. South Korea’s third consecutive election to the WFP Executive Board since 2019 reflects its role and contribution to reducing poverty and ending hunger around the world.

South Korea's election to the Executive Board of UNICEF for 2025-2027 marked its tenth consecutive nomination since 1988. The South Korean government will continue to proactively participate in discussions within UNICEF to advance the protection, health, and education of children and adolescents around the world. The government is also slated to further develop the partnership between South Korea and UNICEF.

On April 11, 2024, the European Commission and the Belgian Council Presidency hosted the Global Gateway High-Level Event on Education.

Grounded in EU pledges from the 2022 TES, the program prioritized green and digital learning, teaching quality, and finance for education among others. Notably, FLN, one of the key foci of the 2022 TES, did not feature in the agenda.

In addition to high-level meetings and discussions, the event included EUR245 million (US$264 million) several pledges from the EU, including:

• EUR110 million (US$119 million) for implementation of Zambia's National Development Plan and Free Education Initiative, which aim to improve quality of early, primary, and secondary education and increase the attendance and completion rates of girls in school;
• EUR75 million (US$81 million) co-financed by the EU and Team Europe for employment-related skills and vocational training with a focus on women and girls' education in SSA. Specific partner countries were not named;
• EUR15 million (US$16 million) and EUR27 million (US$29 million) were allocated to youth mobility projects with a focus on EU-Africa mobility and intra-African mobility and green skills, respectively; and
• EUR18 million (US$20 million) for building research capacity related to medicines and vaccines in Nigeria.

On March 28, 2024, the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs committed EUR50 million (US$54 million) for the launch of PROSPECTS 2.0 in Kenya to promote socio-economic integration between refugees and host communities in Kakuma, Kalobeyei, Dabaab, and urban areas.

The project marks phase 2, spanning from 2024-2027, of the original PROSPECTS Partnership initiated by the Netherlands in 2019. According to the International Finance Corporation Africa, PROSPECTS 2 will focus on four key areas:

• Education and learning;
• Economic inclusion;
• Child protection and social protection; and
• Critical infrastructure.

This partnership involves partners from the humanitarian, development, and private sectors, including the World Bank, UNHCR, UNRWA, UNICEF, ILO, the Government of Kenya’s Ministry of Interior and National Administration, and the County Governments of Turkana and Garissa.