Norway plans to open civil society funding to competition. NGOs warn of pitfalls in Sweden’s ‘chaotic’ process

Against a backdrop of global democratic backsliding and crashing aid budgets, Norway is re-thinking the way it allocates a NOK 2.5 billion envelope to civil society organisations. Key themes include: more predictability, more international competition, and shifting power to the Global South. Norwegian organisations broadly welcome the change of direction but warn that a similar recent process in Sweden “gives reason for caution.”