The Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad) is a directorate under the

Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs The Royal Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs ( Norwegian (Bokmål): ''Det kongelige utenriksdepartement''; Norwegian (Nynorsk): ''Det kongelege utanriksdepartement'') is the foreign ministry of the Kingdom of Norway. It was established on June ...

. In matters regarding Norway's International Climate and Forest Initiative (NICFI), Norad reports to the Norwegian Ministry of Climate and Environment. Norad's functions are laid down in the agency's terms of references and annual letters of allocation issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Climate and Environment. Norad works to ensure effective foreign aid, with quality assurance and evaluation. Norad finances

NGOs A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in ...

and does its own research and projects. The current director general is Bård Vegar Solhjell. Norad used to be the official development assistance organization in

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. As of mid-2004, the responsibility for state-to-state

official development assistance Official development assistance (ODA) is a category used by the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) of the OECD, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to measure aid, foreign aid. The DAC first adopted the concept in ...

has been transferred to the

, while Norad continues to fund NGO activities in

developing countries A developing country is a sovereign state with a lesser developed industrial base and a lower Human Development Index (HDI) relative to other countries. However, this definition is not universally agreed upon. There is also no clear agreem ...

, contributes to the management of development funds and endeavours to ensure that the Norwegian development cooperation is evaluated and efficient.

Organization

Norad consists of the following departments: * Director General's Office * Department for Climate, Energy, Environment and Research * Department for Education and Global Health * Department for Economic Development, Gender and Governance * Civil Society Department * Department for Quality Assurance * Department for Communication * Department of Human Resources and Administration * Evaluation Department

Finances

Norway granted NOK 36.6 billion in development assistance in 2016, corresponding to 1.11 per cent of Norway's gross national income (GNI). According to the

OECD The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; french: Organisation de coopération et de développement économiques, ''OCDE'') is an intergovernmental organisation with 38 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate e ...

, 2020

from Norway increased 8.4% to USD 4.2 billion.

Employees

* Director General, Bård Vegar Solhjell * Director of Communications, Eva Bratholm

References

External links

Agency official homepage
{{Authority control International development agencies Foreign relations of Norway

Development Cooperation Development aid is a type of foreign/international/overseas aid given by governments and other agencies to support the economic, environmental, social, and political development of developing countries. Closely-related concepts include: developm ...

1968 establishments in Norway Government agencies established in 1968