Report: Sida excludes innovative NGOs due to outdated funding rules

Norwegian oil companies are expanding their presence in Africa. The mainly public owned Statoil is in negotiations concerning rights for exploration and development of Block 2 off the coast of Tanzania. Norwegian oil firms’ revenues from Africa are likely to reach NOK 12 billion annually or almost three times Norwegian bilateral aid to the region. In future, oil revenues from the region are likely to grow sharply.

Norwegian Development Minister Hilde Frafjord Johnson is among 11 new appointees to the Commission on Legal Empowerment of the Poor, which is to be launched in New York in connection with the UN Summit next month.

The Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has approved the first phase of a project concerning formalisation of property rights in Guatemala to be carried out by Hernando de Soto’s institute, ILD. The aid agency NORAD was unusually critical of the project, pointing out that the Mayan indigenous people, which in Guatemala make up the majority of the rural poor, are barely mentioned in ILD documents. NORAD rejected the project.

The United Kingdom and Norway are the first and, so far, only two countries that have made concrete commitments towards a proposed USD 500 million humanitarian aid fund.

A detailed survey of Finnish attitudes to development cooperation indicates mixed feelings about levels of government spending on aid.

The Norwegian Development Minister Hilde Frafjord Johnson echoes the United Kingdom and rock star Bob Geldof in criticising President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda. Norway has cut one-third of its budget support following a decision by an overwhelming majority in the Ugandan Parliament to remove limits on the presidential term. The Norwegian move stands in sharp contrast to Sweden and Denmark.

Despite little progress towards restoration of democracy in Nepal, Denmark has decided to continue the main part of its aid programme to the country and to stand by a plan to upgrade the head of the Danish Mission in Nepal from chargé d’affaires to ambassador.

The EU Council has, on the recommendation of the EU’s foreign affairs chief Javier Solana, appointed Finnish Ambassador Pekka Haavisto as the European Union Special Representative for Sudan.

Mari Kiviniemi, Deputy Leader of the Centre Party, has been chosen as the temporary replacement for the current Finnish Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Paula Lehtomäki, who is due to start her maternity leave in the beginning of September.