Six months after the tsunami, the humanitarian medical organisation Médicins Sans Frontières (MSF) reports that it has obtained permission to divert EUR 55 million out of a total of EUR 105 million in total donations received for the tsunami to other needy emergencies around the world.

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Norway and Hernando de Soto. Bankrolling the presidents’ man

It all started in 2001, when the Norwegian firm Norway Registers Development (NRD) invited Hernando de Soto to speak at the Euro Register seminar in Vilnius, Lithuania. NRD, a consultancy active in the aid market, specialised in designing and establishing institutions to support legally-based property rights systems in developing countries and Eastern Europe and had been in existence since 1995.

The Kenyan government’s refusal to extend the work permits of three Danish NGO staff will end up costing Kenya at least DKK 30 million in Danish aid funds.

The Swedish government has confirmed an earlier pledge to provide SEK 6.15 billion to the World Bank’s soft loan arm IDA for the period 2006-2008. But none of the funds will be reported to OECD in 2006, making it difficult for Sweden to reach an aid level of 1 per cent of GNI next year.

The Finnish Auditor General slams the government’s plans to step up budget support to Mozambique and give such assistance to Zambia in 2007. The risk for of “misappropriation of fund is great", states the Auditor. Still, the Finnish Foreign Ministry is determined to increase budget support.

The Swedish government has decided to increases its budget support to Mozambique by more than 40 per cent this and next year.

Finland’s largest development NGOs have approved a common framework to be used to declare how and where their funds are spent.

The OECD country that spends the largest proportion of its aid budget on NGOs, Norway, has established a committee to review the role, cost effectiveness and relevance of the non-governmental organisations.