Åslaug Marie Haga (born 21 October 1959) is a Norwegian diplomat, politician and international civil servant. She has been board chair for various organizations, including the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA) and the Peace Research Institute in Oslo (PRIO). Haga has published three books: two on Norwegian politics and one novel. She is currently the associate vice-president of the External Relations and Governance Department at the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), a specialized agency of the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

. Prior to that, she was executive director of the

Global Crop Diversity Trust The Crop Trust, officially known as the Global Crop Diversity Trust, is an international organization, international nonprofit organization with a secretariat in Bonn, Bonn, Germany. Its mission is to conserve and make available the world's crop d ...

from 2013 to 2019.

Early life and career

Haga was born in Nes, Akershus. She has a bachelor's degree in political science, history and sociology from the

University of Oslo The University of Oslo (; ) is a public university, public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation#Europe, oldest university in Norway. Originally named the Royal Frederick Univ ...

. She joined the diplomatic corps before finishing her master's degree in political science. She served at the Norwegian delegation to the United Nations in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

in the late 1980s and at the Norwegian embassy in

New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...

, India in the early 1990s.

Political career

Haga served as State Secretary for Foreign Affairs from 1991 – 1997 and Minister of Culture from 1999 to 2000. In 2001, she was elected to the Storting from Akershus County, and she was re-elected in 2005. In 2003, while the Centre Party was an opposition party, she became party leader. As leader of the Centre Party, Haga was instrumental in swinging the party's political course to the left, bringing it into a coalition with the Labour Party and the Socialist Left Party for the first time. Following the success of this Red-Green Coalition in the 2005 parliamentary elections, the Centre Party entered the government, and Haga succeeded Erna Solberg as Minister for Local Municipalities and Regional Development in the second cabinet Stoltenberg. In September 2007, she became Minister of Petroleum and Energy, succeeding

Odd Roger Enoksen Odd Roger Enoksen (born 25 September 1954 in Å, Andøy) is a Norway, Norwegian politician representing the Norwegian Centre Party (Norway), Centre Party. He served as minister of defence from 2021 to 2022. He was also leader of the Centre Party f ...

, and leaving the regional department to

Magnhild Meltveit Kleppa Magnhild Meltveit Kleppa (born 12 November 1948 in Fister, Norway) is a Norwegian politician for the Centre Party. Kleppa is educated as a teacher at Kristiansand Teacher Training College in 1970. She worked as a teacher from 1967 to 1992. S ...

. On 11 April 2008, Haga announced that she would not be seeking re-election to Parliament at the 2009 election, and that she would step down as Centre Party leader before the election. On 19 June 2008, she resigned as Minister of Petroleum and Energy, and as leader of the Centre Party. She suffered from health problems following a media storm about minor building violations that she was unaware of. Haga was replaced as Minister of Petroleum and Energy by Terje Riis-Johansen.

Norwegian Air Ambulance

Haga was Secretary General of the Norwegian Air Ambulance from 2011 – 2013. A new training centre for rescue personnel – including medical doctors and pilots - was established at Torpomoen under her leadership.

Global Crop Diversity Trust

Haga replaced

Cary Fowler Morgan Carrington "Cary" Fowler Jr. (born 1949) is an American agriculturalist who served as the U.S. Special Envoy for Global Food Security from 2022 to 2025. He was previously executive director of the Crop Trust. Fowler received the 2024 Worl ...

as executive director of the

in early 2013 and held that position until the end of 2019. Under Haga's leadership the Crop Trust became an independent international organization with a strong voice in

agrobiodiversity Agricultural biodiversity or agrobiodiversity is a subset of general biodiversity pertaining to agriculture. It can be defined as "the variety and variability of animals, plants and micro-organisms at the genetic, species and ecosystem levels tha ...

conservation and use. She was responsible for, and signed, the first agreement to safeguard crops in perpetuity with the

International Rice Research Institute The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) is an international agricultural research and training organization with its headquarters in Los Baños, Laguna, in the Philippines, and offices in seventeen countries. IRRI is known for its w ...

in 2018.

International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)

Haga is currently Associate Vice-president of the External Relations and Governance Department at

IFAD The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) is an international financial institution and a specialised agency of the United Nations that works to address poverty and hunger in rural areas of developing countries. It is the only ...

. She is responsible for communications, global engagement, partnerships, and resource mobilization, as well as overseeing the relations with IFAD's 177 Member States.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Haga, Aslaug 1959 births Living people People from Nes, Akershus Centre Party (Norway) politicians Ministers of energy of Norway Ministers of local government and modernisation of Norway Ministers of culture of Norway Women members of the Storting People from Ås, Akershus University of Oslo alumni 21st-century Norwegian women politicians Women government ministers of Norway Members of the Storting 2001–2005 Members of the Storting 2005–2009