Prime Minister– Ladies and Gentlemen

It is a great pleasure for me to be present at this seminar arranged by the Buganda Society of Norway. The focus here today is on important topics such as education, the HIV/Aids issue and women’s rights. I am happy to have been invited here to talk about cultural exchange and cooperation in this context. Culture is an essential element in international development and the fight against poverty.

Cultural factors affect areas like education, equality and the environment both directly and indirectly. In establishing a well-functioning civil society boasting active organisations, a free media and broad popular participation, the cultural sector is essential. For a country to achieve development, it takes more than building up traditional infrastructure.

In this respect, culture and sports has a lot to contribute, as inherently in these sectors is the ability to tear down prejudice with activities that that make people visible and build them up from the inside. Recently, this government launched a strategy for a more holistic and long-term approach to culture and sports cooperation with developing countries.

Any cooperation between Norway and development countries in the cultural sector requires equality and respect. Throughout history, however, countless examples have shown us that this has not always been the case. We from the Western world have considered ourselves managers of something better than, and superior to, what the developing countries represent. Third World countries, with Uganda as a good example, have long cultural traditions that you, quite rightly, are proud of and eager to preserve. Our assisting you in this endeavour is all well and good, but what we are now devising goes beyond that.

In the future, cooperation must be our objective.

Norway today is a multi-cultural society. Cultures that were unfamiliar to us in the past have come much closer. Our new fellow citizens have brought with them traditions and cultural modes of expression that have led to an enrichment of cultural life in this country, and, in turn, incited growth in our Norwegian culture.

In this respect, The Buganda Society of Norway is in itself a good example of successful cultural exchange. The society propagates cultural heritage from Buganda in Norway as well as it contributes to giving people of Ganda origin in Norway insight and knowledge about Norwegian culture and civilisation.

Working together with countries in the South, with cultures deeply rooted in traditions and ways of living different than what we are used to, enables us to pick up ideas and include them in our own culture; ideas that may result in future growth and progress. And it goes both ways. We have something to offer as well. We have cultural traditions that we are proud of, we have values, ideals and artistic modes of expression which in interaction with other cultures may offer rich impetus for growth and progress.

This interaction must be the foundation for all cooperation.

And it is in relation to this interaction that we may offer tangible assistance; in building up a cultural infrastructure. In countries where financial difficulties dominate everyday life, this is among the things that have a tendency to fail. We can also offer help in creating programmes designed for promoting energetic settings for artistic activity, for making intellectual contacts and for the protection of cultural heritage. Cultural institutions and organisations are essential in a vibrant civil society.

Norway has a long tradition for democratic government. We take freedom of speech and a free media for granted. Not everybody has the same tradition, however. In this respect, we feel we have a lot to contribute. Freedom of speech and the development of a free media are decisive conditions for the forming of political opinion, and are at the bottom of all real, democratic development.

Volunteers contribute to poverty reduction

A long tradition for a vibrant and diverse organisational life is part of the foundation for the democracy and welfare we enjoy in Norway today. However, the civil society plays a crucial part in a global perspective as well. A dynamic civil society is not least an important instrument in the fight against poverty around the world. In order to uphold an adequate form of government, as well as democratic development and respect for human rights, voluntary organisations are important.

Voluntary action creates commitment and generates active participation instead of reducing people to recipients, clients or consumers.

Together, State and civil society may influence each other in a dynamic development process. The government needs human resources that complement and challenge, correct and influence. In many places around the world, especially in poorer countries, voluntary organisations are amongst the biggest contributors to welfare in the community.

In the autumn of 2000, the UN adopted eight concrete goals for poverty reduction towards 2015 – the so-called Millennium Development Goals. World society pledged among other things to halve extreme poverty, provide universal primary education and reduce child mortality by two-thirds. Voluntary organisations in the North and the South are vital in this work.

That is why one-third of all Norwegian bilateral development aid is canalised through voluntary organisations and other civil organisational bodies. That is a bigger share than any other country. Through the running of schools and hospitals, voluntary organisations contribute to fulfilling basic development rights. They are indeed in themselves a manifestation of one important human right: freedom of organisation.

As a mouthpiece for those who are seldom heard, civil society can function as a megaphone and ensure that the rights of the weak and poor are being taken care of. As watchdogs, voluntary organisations and the media should be able to give notice, both nationally and internationally, in cases where reality is not in accordance with rhetoric.

Sport

Sport is also an important means in development work and in the endeavour for peace and reconciliation. Sport has intrinsic value. Moreover, sport is suitable for building bridges and a source of great joy in the everyday lives of young people.

Engaging in sports contributes to making us fitter, healthier, more sensitive and more resistant to illness. In the fight against AIDS, we know that sports activities and sports stars play important roles in passing on knowledge. In this way, sports stands out as an important instrument.

At the same time, it is important to keep our expectations to what can be achieved through sports on a realistic level. Sport is no guarantee for peace and development, but can contribute positively in development processes.

In the fight against poverty, culture and sports are important weapons because they are quite central elements of a well-functioning society. Giving people the opportunity to express cultural creativity, take part in sports, and engage in the task of protecting cultural heritage is not only vital in building up a society, it can also prevent poverty and illness.

Cultural action is more than a means in international development. Cultural freedom and diversity are important development goals in their own right!

"Weebale" – (takk på det bugandiske språket)