Policy Updates

On May 14, 2024, Norwegian government announced that it will increase support for Ukraine and Palestine in the proposed revised state budget for 2024 by NOK1 billion (US$92 million) each.

In addition, the budget will receive a further NOK100 million (US$9.2 million), making 2024 development assistance budget Norway's second-largest ever, corresponding to 0.98% ODA/GNI. The additional support to Ukraine and Palestine will be channeled through the UN, the Red Cross, and Norwegian humanitarian organizations.

In order to increase the funding to Ukraine and Palestine and to cover increased refugee expenses in Norway, the government is reallocating NOK1.6 billion (US$148 million) from other parts of the development assistance budget. The government proposed a reallocation from the health (NOK125 million; US$11.6 million), climate (NOK171.6 million; US$16 million), and civil society (NOK185 million; US$17 million) sectors.

The state guarantee scheme for renewable energy in LICs will also be postponed until 2025. The government underlines that the proposed reprioritization will not entail a breach of existing agreements.

On May 14, 2024, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan, the president of the ADB Group, and the executive director of the International Energy Agency co-hosted the Summit on Clean Cooking in Africa.

The aim of the summit was to emphasize 2024 as a turning point for progress on ensuring clean cooking access for all.

Støre noted that nearly four in five Africans cook their meals over open fires and traditional stoves, using wood, charcoal, animal dung, and other polluting fuels that have severe impacts on health, gender equality, and the environment. Women and children are especially affected. Støre announced that Norway will support the financing of clean cooking with more than NOK500 million (US$46 million).

On May 10, 2024, more than 40 Canadian international cooperation organizations issued an open letter to the Canadian government to call for a response to the cross-cutting crisis in Haiti, foster greater coherence in Canada’s foreign policy, and better demonstrate Canada’s feminist approach to promoting peace and security.

The letter, addressed to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and other top ministers and backed by representatives from Haitian civil society, presented recommendations for a resolute and lasting contribution to resolving the crisis in Haiti. Haiti’s ongoing political crisis has fostered an environment of violence, SGBV, food insecurity, and socio-economic insecurity.

The signatory organizations called on the Canadian government to champion Haiti’s cause by:

• Support the political transition process: Canada should recognize and support the recently sworn-in Transitional Presidential Council so that it can effectively implement the “Political Accord for a Peaceful and Orderly Transition” to restore constitutional normalcy and legal order. Canada should also insist on broad political representation of all segments of society, particularly women and youth;
• Stand against arms trafficking: Canada should encourage international responses and engage in advocacy with the US to stop arms trafficking to Haiti by providing the security forces with logistical and financial support to help restore public security; and
• Improve development and humanitarian assistance: Canada must reconsider the current project-based approach to development and humanitarian funding, which often fails to reach the most vulnerable people and most affected areas. Canada should work with CSOs to implement the triple nexus approach, combining interventions structured in the humanitarian, development, and peace fields as well as increase and diversify its funding to reach more affected sectors, including agriculture, health, protection of civilians, WASH, shelter, education, economic support, and more.

On May 9, 2024, USAID and the US State Department announced that they will provide an additional US$31 million to support Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh.

The additional funds are slated to assist the almost one million refugees who have fled Myanmar and have been living in crowded refugee camps for years. The assistance will include healthcare, WASH services, nutrition, and other live-saving protection. Particular focus will be on treating malnourished children through Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Foods.

Since the start of the refugee crisis, the US has provided almost U$2.4 billion for assistance to the region. US partners include UNHCR, IFRC, IOM, and UNICEF.

On May 9, 2024, UK Foreign Minister David Cameron spoke on UK foreign policy at the National Cyber Security Unit, where he highlighted that UK foreign policy is linked with ensuring the domestic prosperity and security and the UK's place in the world, noting that the UK is both large enough to make a significant impact but small enough to act nimbly and quickly when needed.

Cameron noted that the top priority for the UK is ensuring both British and global security, reiterating the UK government’s commitment to spend 2.5% of GDP on defense by 2030 and committing 5% of the spending to defense R&D.

Cameron went on to note that a close second priority was standing up for British values of freedom, human dignity and human rights and supporting the multilateral system that upholds these values. He highlighted how much more funding the UK provides to tackling malaria via the Global Fund than Iran, and how much more the UK spends than Russia on funding the UN Central Emergency Fund for humanitarian disasters. Cameron also emphasized the UK's generosity as a donor to the GCF to support oceans and biodiversity.

Cameron expressed pride in the UK’s recent International White Paper and its drive to support the UN SDGs, reform MDBs, and enhance cooperation with the private sector.

On May 8, 2024, the UK released its new 5-year national plan, covering the period of 2024-2029, for tackling AMR in animals and humans.

The new strategy set out nine key goals under four key - themes:

• Reducing the need for antimicrobials, including through surveillance to prevent infections from arising;
• Optimizing the use of antimicrobials;
• Investing in the development of new vaccines, diagnostics, and therapeutics; and
• Being a good global partner through international leadership forums like the G7 and G20 as well as supporting low- and middle-income countries to respond to the threat of AMR through research, good supply chains and access to antibiotics via investments in the Fleming Fund, GAMRIF and the UKRI cross-councils initiative.

On May 7, 2024, JICA signed a grant agreement with Kenya to provide grant assistance totaling approximately JPY3.1 billion (US$20 million) for the Project for Strengthening the Research Capacity of Kenya Medical Research Institute.

In response to the pressing need for enhanced medical research capabilities in Kenya and the African region, particularly in combating infectious diseases like COVID-19, the project aims to equip the institute with state-of-the-art facilities and equipment for research and early-response testing and diagnosis. By bolstering capacity, the initiative seeks to contribute to health crisis response efforts and promote public health in East Africa, aligning with UN SDG #3.

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, USAID Administrator Samantha Power announced that the agency will be providing an additional US$200 million for RUFT as well as other specialized food used for acute malnutrition.

Approximately 300 million people worldwide are in need of humanitarian relief, where conflicts, climate change, and lack of access to critical food assistance exacerbates food insecurity. 45 million children face wasting, the most serious form of child malnutrition. USAID's RUFT food product is part of a package of services to prevent and treat child wasting.

UNICEF and the UN WFP are slated to distribute the food goods to areas including Sudan, Burkina Faso, and Haiti. The effort builds upon an earlier commitment spearheaded by USAID that announced US$500 million by a public-private coalition at the 2022 UNGA. USAID has already worked in Gaza and Ethiopia to address nutritional needs.

On May 3, 2024, representatives from the Netherlands attended the 30^th ICPD in New York, where Dutch Director-General for International Cooperation Pascalle Grotenhuis and Dutch SRHR Youth Ambassador Sarah Bahgat called for further action on CSE and youth involvement to continue SRHR progress.

Grotenhuis delivered a statement on behalf of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg and highlighted priorities set out by young people. The Netherlands also supported the ICPD Program of Action and co-hosted 300+ young people at the Global Youth Dialogue to reflect on its urgent call to ensure women and girls’ right to decide over their bodies and futures.

Bahgat delivered a statement at the General Debate of the Commission on Population and Development, highlighting the need to tackle information online, deliver CSE in humanitarian settings, and showcase the outcomes of the Global Youth Dialogue.