What’s on the mind of Norway’s development minister?

For years, Norway has been one of the most generous donors in the world. In 2023, the country directed more than 1% of its gross national income toward official development assistance — and Anne Beathe Tvinnereim, Norway’s minister of international development, was the woman at the helm. But in recent months, even Tvinnereim said she had grown frustrated. The number of humanitarian crises has exploded, forcing countries to spread their dollars thin. People across the world are going hungry, triggered by climate change and conflict. And amidst a dizzying array of challenges, trust between countries has become undermined, Tvinnereim said — adding that if such a pattern continues, she didn’t know where the world would be in 10 or 20 years. “The polarization in the world is just affecting everything that we work with in a negative manner,” said the minister, who spoke to Devex in Washington, D.C. last month. “The trust is diminishing between countries and between regions. And that is affecting our ability to actually get things done.” Despite those feelings, Tvinnereim is certainly trying — and when Devex sat down with Tvinnereim during the World Bank and International Monetary Fund’s annual meetings, the minister gave us a sense of what’s on her mind when it comes to foreign aid. A lapse in trust Tvinnereim is responsible for Norway’s development and humanitarian efforts, a portfolio that includes the country’s cooperation with the United Nations, World Bank, and other multilateral groups. She also oversees a trio of Norwegian institutions focused on foreign assistance: Norad, Norfund, and Norec. “For me, it's really important to enter a conversation on development and other global issues without pointing fingers,” she said. “What we see now is that some countries have tended to say you're either with us or against us, and that doesn't work.” Tvinnereim spoke about the war in Russia and Ukraine, and how Western countries have demanded others “be clear on the breach of international law” as it relates to that conflict. At the same time, Tvinnereim said the same nations have remained silent when similar breaches of international law have occurred elsewhere in the world, such as in countries like Sudan or Myanmar. “Russia's invasion of Ukraine is a blatant violation of international law, and it's affecting the whole world,” said Tvinnereim. “But if we say that others need to react, we also need to react to breaches of international law in other places of the world, and we must make sure we don’t operate with double standards.” It was one of many things on the minister’s mind. But it was that message, Tvinnereim said, that she was trying to bring out most of all. “That is extremely frustrating, and that is basically the message I bring to everyone I speak to, especially my colleagues in Europe and here in the U.S. and Canada,” she added. “ We need to make sure we build trust, and there are many elements to that.” Here are some other key issues on Tvinnereim’s mind. ODA trend lines In recent years, Norway’s official development assistance has ping-ponged. Since 2014, the country’s foreign aid has increased — and then decreased — by about $1 billion every two years, according to data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. In 2023, the country raised its aid by 20% from the year prior, funneling 1.09% of its gross domestic income toward foreign assistance. Norway now ranks as the 10th largest donor in terms of its ODA spending, and the only country in the OECD that gives more than 1% of its national income to foreign aid. In 2024, Tvinnereim’s team said Norway’s preliminary budget had fallen once again, this time by about $460 million. Still, she added that they expected the budget to rise with the addition of new amendments before the end of the year. “I will not accept being charged with cuts, because they are not cuts,” Tvinnereim said. “But on the individual [sectors], one could say there are cuts, because we’ve needed to prioritize other topics.” To that effect, Tvinnereim spoke of the war in Ukraine — a country that didn’t receive Norwegian support until Russia’s 2022 invasion of the country. Today, Norway gives more money to Ukraine than it gives to any other nation, Tvinnereim said, and though that allocation “makes sense,” it’s stretched Norway’s budget from competing priorities. “Of course, we need to show solidarity with Ukraine,” Tvinnereim added. “But the fact is that I have a budget, and there are competing needs, and increasing needs.” No matter where Norway’s numbers rank by December, Europe is no stranger to foreign aid cuts. The European Commission is planning to slash funding to the world’s poorest countries by 35% over the next three years — the result of a €2 billion budget cut that was announced earlier this year. Across the region, several other donor countries, such as the Netherlands, Sweden, France, and Germany, have shrunk their aid spending precipitously in recent months. “There’s been big support from the [Norwegian] public for a high ODA for many, many years,” said Tvinnereim. “The support is still there — but now, we have a bigger job of defending it.” Pulling in the private sector One way of doing that, Tvinnereim said, is to galvanize more resources to amplify Norwegian aid. The same week the minister spoke to Devex, Norway announced the expansion of a multimillion-dollar “fund of funds”, an investment initiative that aims to increase financing for small- and medium-sized agricultural businesses across Africa. “I really think there is a lot more to be done to take off both the real and perceived risks for private sector engagement in developing countries,” Tvinnereim said. “There are so many ways that we can use a little bit of ODA to leverage private money, and to get more value for money.” Tvinnereim gave other examples: Norway’s two-year-old climate investment fund, which the country’s government describes as Norway’s “most important tool in accelerating the global energy transition,” and the development of a state guarantee mechanism, which Tvinnereim said will help get more private funding into renewable energy. “There are so many ways that we can use a little bit of [official development assistance] to leverage private money, and get more value for that money,” said Tvinnereim. “We need to take some risks. But it’s money well spent.” Norway is far from alone. Europe has increasingly dialed into private sector investments, especially with the launch of the Global Gateway in late 2021. The strategy — which is often presented as an alternative to China’s Belt and Road initiative — aims to generate €300 billion worth of private investments, with the majority of that money steered toward green and digital infrastructure. “That’s a kind of post-ODA era,” Jutta Urpilainen, the outgoing European Commissioner for international partnerships, recently told Devex. “We use ODA funding, but we use it in a new way, in a more efficient way, so that we try to use public resources in order to leverage private investments.” Food security Despite any frustrations, there was one thing Tvinnereim was thrilled to speak about: Norway’s increasing focus on food security, and the rest of the world’s acknowledgement of the sector’s importance. Two years ago, the country launched a new strategy on food security, one that focused on investing in small-scale food producers. From 2018 to 2022, the country’s support for the sector has grown by 86% according to Donor Tracker, a platform that analyzes funding trends across countries. And just this week, Norway joined a growing number of countries signing onto the Global Alliance to Against Hunger and Poverty, an initiative spearheaded by Brazil’s Group of 20 presidency to link countries with the policies, resources, and technical support to curb hunger across the world. “This is a solution to not only saving lives and feeding people,” Tvinnereim said. “It’s a huge development opportunity.” Tvinnereim — who grew up alongside family farms of clover, wheat, and barley — was particularly excited about the agricultural elements of food security, and how ODA could be used to help small-scale farmers grow. She highlighted how she has listened to Antony Blinken, the U.S. secretary of state, “nerding out” about soil quality; and how Bill Gates, the billionaire philanthropist, had joined forces with the United Arab Emirates to invest in smallholder farmer innovation. “Everyone who knows what they're talking about knows that this cannot be ignored,” she added. “It ticks many boxes at the same time.”