A scathing report from the Swedish Embassy in Lusaka concludes that Zambia has not fulfilled the conditions for receiving budget support. Zambia’s President has warned donors not to meddle in internal affairs and told them they can “pack their bags and go”. The Swedish government called his bluff, cancelling SEK 300 million in budget support for 2010 and 2011.

The Swedish Development Minister has not shied away from tough decisions. She has taken on the Global Fund, IFAD and the Zambian government. “When I walk this line, I am of course not a big nation. I am Sweden. But we have our values. And we must stand firm to them,” she says in an interview with Development Today.

Norway is providing aid financing for the studies of two enormous hydropower projects along the Blue Nile River in Ethiopia, the Mandaya and the Beko-Abo. With a combined generating capacity of 4,100 megawatts, Mandaya and Beko-Abo are among the largest hydropower projects being planned in Africa today.

As cash-strapped Western donors prepare to gather in Brussels in mid-December to decide on the next three years of funding for the World Bank’s grant and soft loan arm IDA, the looming question is: Will China and other emerging donors put cash on the table? The signals are not promising.

Deciphering Danish-Arab relations

A fascinating study on the Danish government’s Partnership for Dialogue and Reform, the so-called Danish-Arab initiative, has an upbeat message about the possibilities for breaking down myths and prejudices.

Høybråten to lead GAVI

Dagfinn Høybråten, Leader of the Norwegian Christian Democrat Party, has been elected Chair of the GAVI vaccine alliance.

New head of Norad

Villa Kulild has been appointed the new Director of the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad), replacing Poul Engberg Pedersen who recently left the agency one year before his six-year term ended.

IDB: ‘we are required to look at the entire range of impacts’

Norway-Guyana forest aid slated for investment in hydro dam

Expert: donors must view Amaila Falls as part of a larger scheme

No Guyana REDD money for 2010. IDB warns about forest road

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