Chapter 5. Norway’s delivery modalities and partnerships
This chapter reviews Norway’s approach to delivering in partner countries and through partnerships to determine whether this is in line with the principles for effective development co-operation. Norway is a reliable and appreciated partner engaging in diverse partnerships that go beyond aid. Its ongoing focus on reducing the number of partner countries presents an opportunity to further improve the effectiveness of country level engagements and to align engagements with country priorities and processes. Clarifying the role of Norway’s embassies will be key to ensuring that Norway successfully links its global and country level objectives and leverages its influence with partner governments. Norway’s shift from bilateral to multilateral partnerships raises challenges, including the potential to contribute to fragmentation within the multilateral system.
Partnering
Norway is a reliable and appreciated partner, which emphasises the value of diverse partnerships that go beyond aid. However, the shift from bilateral to multilateral partnerships raises challenges, including the potential of contributing to fragmentation within the multilateral system.
Norway is a reliable, valued and generous partner
Development partners, multilateral and civil society organisations (CSOs) consistently recognise Norway as a reliable and valued partner, more than just as a donor. This appreciation is based on Norway’s long-term engagement, constructive dialogue and consistent focus on capacity-building. Norway is also a generous and flexible donor, which takes its international commitments seriously.
There exists a clear commitment from Norway to strengthen partnerships with a diverse range of stakeholders, especially the private sector and academia. This is in line with the Minister of International Development’s address to the Storting in April 2018 stating that “aid alone is insufficient to achieve development and must be used strategically to mobilise other financial flows, including private sector investment” (Government of Norway, 2018a). The emphasis on diversifying partnerships is also elaborated in Norway’s Research Strategy for the Foreign Service and Norad 2017-2024 (Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 2017), which articulates the need to foster high-quality research to help reduce poverty and promote sustainable development.
Norway also makes considerable efforts to align its partnerships with its stated priorities – namely education, health, private-sector development and job creation, climate, renewable energy and the environment, gender equality and humanitarian aid – and its perceived comparative advantage and technical capacities. This is evidenced by the range of Norway’s partnerships at the global level, through its contribution to the multilateral system and “vertical funds”, such as the Global Financing Facility in support of maternal and child health (Chapter 3). It is also evidenced by its country-level partnerships, through initiatives such as its Oil for Development programme and the Norwegian Office of the Auditor General’s in-country partnerships (Box 5.1).
The shift from bilateral partnerships to multilateral partnerships brings challenges
As outlined in Chapters 2 and 3, Norway is increasingly shifting from bilateral to multilateral partnerships – particularly in the areas of climate, education and global health – while also managing a growing budget. This has positive outcomes, in terms of Norway’s leadership and advocacy on priority issues and their significant contribution to shared global aims. Benefits include the opportunity to reduce overhead costs and enhance the consistency of reporting amongst donors. However, this shift also has implications on the extent to which Norway can leverage its influence with partner countries in its country-level engagements (see below). It also influences its ability to ensure that multilateral investments align with its overall strategic aims and achieve the expected results. In particular, increasing investment in sectoral multilateral partnerships through vertical funds may contribute to fragmenting the multilateral system and cause such sectoral funds to proliferate. Furthermore, Norway’s support for multilateral partners has been based on an annual budget allocation, limiting the predictability of Norway’s multilateral partnerships. This is likely to change following the introduction in January 2019 of multi-year indicative commitments to UN agencies.
Norway is committed to its partnerships with civil society and the private sector
Norway has built solid relations with CSOs, based on trust and dialogue. Through the Norwegian Agency for Development Co-operation (Norad), Norway has an active policy to support interventions of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and invest in their capacity development. It has elaborated several guidelines to support the work of NGOs, in line with Norwegian priorities. Its most recent publication (June 2018), Norad’s Support to Civil Society: Guiding Principles, emphasises seven principles, namely sustainability, inclusion, partnership, legitimacy, accountability, cost effectiveness, and context sensitivity (Norad, 2018a). Furthermore, Norway views its partnerships with both civil society and the private sector as a key element in delivering on its objectives. The white paper “Working together: Private sector development in Norwegian development co-operation” emphasises the importance of supporting “knowledge clusters”, wherein the private sector and CSOs collaborate in mutually reinforcing partnerships (Government of Norway, 2015).
Despite this strong commitment, there is a perception amongst civil-society partners that framework agreements specifying sectoral focus areas, along with different funding criteria set by Norad and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs – focusing on long-term capacity building and humanitarian assistance respectively – prevents Norwegian NGOs from being highly nimble, especially in fragile contexts. More than half of Norway’s private-sector partnerships are delivered through Norfund. While there exist opportunities to strengthen the way that Norway’s development co-operation and private-sector partnerships are informed by learning from Norfund’s operations, the flexible model and broad mandate of Norfund help to ensure that it is aligned with Norway’s overall development priorities and objectives (Box 3.1).
Country level engagement
Norway’s focus on reducing the number of partner countries presents an opportunity to improve the effectiveness of its country level engagements and build on existing efforts to align with country priorities and processes. Clarifying the role of Norway’s embassies will be a key element in ensuring that Norway successfully links its global and country level objectives and leverages its influence with partner governments.
The development of country strategies will strengthen alignment with partner country priorities
The 2013 peer review highlighted that Norway lacks clear funding criteria for allocating bilateral aid, resulting in a lack of evidence-based funding decisions (OECD, 2013). Such criteria were subsequently elaborated in the white paper presented to the Storting (Government of Norway, 2018b). The white paper emphasises Norway’s focus on developing mutual partnerships and country strategies based on the Sustainable Development Goals, which will not be limited to aid, but will include all areas of co-operation relevant to development (Chapter 2). The development of such country strategies needs to be informed by a systematic process that further clarifies decision-making, resource implications, phasing, the delegation of authority to embassies and other aspects. Such a process would help Norway strengthen its country-level engagements and improve the predictability of its aid, mutual ownership with partner governments and co-ordination with others – including OECD Development Assistance Committee members. It would also help ensure that synergies across its own programmes are mutually reinforcing.
Efforts to strengthen country-level partnerships are also complemented by Norway’s focus on strengthening knowledge management and breaking down “silos” within its own systems. A key element of this approach is the launch of the Knowledge Bank in 2018 (Box 5.1), aiming to increase partner countries’ access to Norwegian expertise by consolidating cross-government capabilities and the availability of technical co-operation.
In 2018, Norway launched a Knowledge Bank, with the objective of strengthening and co-ordinating a range of programmes for technical co-operation in areas where Norway has special competence which is in demand by partner countries. The programmes usually combine the expertise of Norwegian ministries, agencies and public institutions to meet the government’s objective to strengthen competence and capacity in public institutions in partner countries (Norad, 2018c). The Knowledge Bank encompasses a number of technical co-operation initiatives, including the Oil for Development, Fish for Development and Tax for Development programmes, and Norwegian co-operation around clean energy.
While the primary aim of the Knowledge Bank is to strengthen public institutions through sharing knowledge in Norway’s areas of niche expertise, it also reflects an innovative approach to – and potential for greater co-ordination, synergies and management of knowledge within – the Norwegian system by bringing together expertise from across the system, thereby breaking down silos.
Norway is increasingly aligning with partner country priorities
Norway is making efforts to align behind country priorities and processes. Norway’s performance in the 2016 Global Partnership for Effective Development Co-operation (GPEDC) monitoring round (GPEDC, 2016) indicates it is increasingly recording its funding in national budget processes and strengthening medium-term predictability (Figure 5.1).
Source: OECD (2018), Development Co-operation Report 2018: Joining Forces to Leave No One Behind, https://doi.org/10.1787/dcr-2018-en.
Such efforts to complement national priorities were evidenced in Uganda: Norway’s priorities broadly align with those of the government, notably on energy and education. Uganda sees Norway as a valued and strategic partner, which can respond rapidly to evolving needs, and provide resources to its partners in a timely and flexible manner. In the energy sector, for instance, Norway has built a portfolio that reflects Norway’s comparative advantage. It co-ordinates well with other development actors, is highly valued by the Government of Uganda and plays a critical role in building domestic capability. With the support of third-party independent monitors, Norway is also ensuring accountability for results.
Other initiatives can be seen as good practice. These include the partnerships of the Norwegian Office of the Auditor General (OAG), which have yielded mutual benefits, with an exchange of learning that is valued by both partners (Box 5.2).
The OAG is involved in several initiatives to strengthen public auditing capacity in developing countries, including by undertaking technical co-operation with supreme audit institutions (SAIs) and through its work as an external auditor for international organisations.
Since 2001, the OAG has been responsible for the partnership with the International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions Development Initiative (IDI), a development body for SAIs in developing countries. The IDI contributes to improved auditing capacity in more than 140 SAIs through needs-based, targeted and sustainable development programmes. In 2017, the OAG worked with SAIs in Nepal, Myanmar, Uganda, Zambia and Sierra Leone, as well as with the African Organisation of English-speaking Supreme Audit Institutions (AFROSAI-E).1
The OAG takes the approach that learning and development through professional dialogue, including sharing experiences and knowledge through this engagement with developing countries is fundamental to development of the organisation itself. As seen in Uganda, through this learning approach and long-term partnerships between the OAG and its counterpart the initiative is yielding mutual benefit, with an exchange of learning valued by both partners. This is an example of exemplary peer-to-peer learning and support and can serve as good practice.
← 1. AFROSAI-E is an association of English-speaking SAIs in Africa and includes 25 countries. For more information, see: https://afrosai-e.org.za/.
Embassies play a role in strengthening Norway’s country-level engagements and leveraging its influence
Norway’s reorientation towards multilateral partnerships also has implications for its country-level engagements. In particular, further efforts will be needed to leverage its multilateral partnerships for engagement and influence with partner countries, and to ensure that country-level objectives are linked to global policy and reform outcomes.
Norway’s engagement in Uganda, for instance, suggests there is an opportunity to better leverage its strong relationships, engagement in strategic sectors and perceived neutrality to scale up its dialogue with the government on sensitive issues. These include corruption and human rights – particularly in the renewable and non-renewable energy sectors, including within the Oil for Development project. Magnifying its voice through a co-ordinated approach with like-minded partners may also achieve greater impact.
Clarifying the role and added value of Norway’s embassies should be seen as a critical element, both for ensuring that global and in-country objectives are aligned, and for leveraging Norway’s influence with partner governments. Norway is beginning to make efforts in this regard, including through the recommendations contained in the October 2018 report, Evaluation of Organisational Aspects of Norwegian Aid Administration (Norad, 2018b). The report highlights that Norway’s falling share of bilateral ODA has narrowed opportunities for contact with recipient governments and lessened its ability to build networks and manage country-level partnerships. The report points to the challenges facing Norway’s embassies in assessing whether multilateral programmes are being implemented effectively and efficiently on the ground. It highlights the difficulties in ensuring that project financing connects with the political leadership in the host country, and builds influence on issues of relevance for Norwegian foreign and development policy. Strengthening and improving information flows between embassies and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs may be one way to address this challenge, thereby helping embassies to play a more active role in advising Norway how best to leverage its multilateral partnerships for country-level engagement and influence.
References
Government sources
Government of Norway (2018a), “Address on Norway's international development policy 26 April – Speech by Minister of International Development Nikolai Astrup”, https://www.regjeringen.no/en/aktuelt/address_policy/id2599458/.
Government of Norway (2018b), “Partnerland i utviklingspolitikken”, Meld. St. 17 (2017–2018), Government of Norway, Oslo, https://www.regjeringen.no/no/dokumenter/meld.-st.-17-20172018/id2604526/sec1.
Government of Norway (2017), “Common Responsibility for Common Future: The Sustainable Development Goals and Norway's Development Policy – Report to the Storting (white paper)”, Meld. St. 24, English summary, Government of Norway, Oslo, https://www.regjeringen.no/en/dokumenter/meld.-st.-24-20162017/id2547573/sec1.
Government of Norway (2015), “Working together: Private sector development in Norwegian development co-operation”, Meld. St. 35, Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Oslo, https://www.regjeringen.no/contentassets/e25c842a003d4892986ce29678102593/en-gb/pdfs/stm201420150035000engpdfs.pdf.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2017), Research Strategy for the Foreign Service and Norad, 2017-2024, Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Oslo, https://www.regjeringen.no/contentassets/fab2d8d76c2b4c669c5cd86ef2fbe50f/research_strategy.pdf.
Norad (2018a), Norad's Support to Civil Society: Guiding Principles, Norwegian Agency for Development Co-operation, Oslo, https://norad.no/contentassets/396cdc788c09405490a96adce80ac040/norads-support-to-civil-society_-guiding-principles-.pdf.
Norad (2018b), Evaluation of Organisational Aspects of Norwegian Aid Administration, Evaluation Department, Norwegian Agency for Development Co-operation, Oslo, https://norad.no/contentassets/661cb32ba3d54fbd839c8cd582dd28c4/13.18-evaluation-of-organisational-aspects-of-norwegian-aid-administration.pdf.
Norad (2018c) The Knowledge Bank, https://norad.no/en/about-norad/employees/the-knowledge-bank/ (accessed on 3 January 2019).
Other sources
GPEDC (2016), Dashboard – Effective Co-operation (database), http://dashboard.effectivecooperation.org/viewer (accessed on 24 November 2018). OECD (2018), Development Co-operation Report 2018: Joining Forces to Leave No One Behind, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/dcr-2018-en.
OECD (2013), OECD Development Co-operation Peer Review: Norway 2013, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://www.oecd.org/dac/peer-reviews/Norway_FINAL_2013.pdf.