“Somalia is in a critical phase. Norway aims to support that the progress made so far is not reversed. That is why we are increasing our development assistance by NOK 150 million and strengthening our cooperation with the Government of Somalia,” said Minister of International Development Heikki Eidsvoll Holmås.

Mr Holmås is today taking part in the international Somalia Conference 2013 in London. The conference is co-hosted by President of the Federal Republic of Somalia, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, and British Prime Minister David Cameron.

“Given the grim situation in Syria today, it is important to support efforts to build up local civil leadership. Norway will provide funding to strengthen civil society capacity in Syria with a view to a political process and stabilisation in the future,” said Minister of Foreign Affairs Espen Barth Eide.

“The Somali Government and Parliament are entering a decisive phase for the development of democracy and stable governance. This is why Norway is stepping up its engagement in the country,” said Minister of International Development Heikki Eidsvoll Holmås.

This week, Mr Holmås is the host for a high-level delegation from the Somali Parliament, which includes the Speaker, Mohamed Osman Jawari, and a number of committee chairs. Mr Holmås invited the delegation to Norway to study Norway’s experience of democratic governance.

“Norway is disbursing the whole amount of its budget support to Palestine for 2013 now because Palestinian public sector employees urgently need to be paid again,” said Minister of Foreign Affairs Espen Barth Eide. Norway’s support is helping to provide education, health services and security to the Palestinian people.

Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg and Afghan President Hamid Karzai today signed an agreement on strategic partnership between Norway and Afghanistan. In the agreement, Afghanistan makes a commitment to good governance and combating corruption in exchange for continued Norwegian assistance.

Saving the Lives of Women and Children: Progress on MDGs 4 and 5

Since 2007, the Global Campaign for the Health Millennium Development Goals has brought together a number of actions and initiatives, all aimed at fulfilling the promises given by world leaders in the Millennium Declaration in 2000.

Since then, the campaign has issued regular updates on progress on women's and children's health.

“The Syrian winter is harsh and cold, and the hard-hit population is in desperate need of assistance to meet basic needs such as shelter. We have therefore disbursed NOK 35 million to Syrian refugees and internally displaced people,” Minister of Foreign Affairs Espen Barth Eide commented.

Norwegian aid to the Ugandan state has been suspended for an indefinite period. “It is particularly serious that the Office of the Prime Minister in Uganda is implicated in one of the most severe corruption cases involving Norwegian aid funds. Uganda needs to make a far more credible effort to clear up this corruption scandal,” said State Secretary Arvinn Eikeland Gadgil at a meeting with Uganda’s Minister of Finance and Economic Planning Maria Kiwanuka in Oslo today.

Aid funds that were intended to go towards reconstruction efforts in northern Uganda have been misused. This misuse of funds was discovered by the Office of the Auditor General of Uganda.

“This amounts to no less than stealing from the impoverished people of northern Uganda who have been subjected to conflict and misrule for years. We have a policy of zero tolerance for corruption and other misuse of funds, and we intend to get to the bottom of this,” said Minister of International Development Heikki Holmås.