Utstein group receives international award

The Utstein group, which includes the Norwegian Minister of International Development, Hilde F. Johnson, will be receiving the 2003 Commitment to Development Award in Washington DC on Tuesday 29 April.

The Center for Global Development and the journal Foreign Policy have chosen the Utstein group to be the first recipients of an award that is to be given every year to "an individual, group of individuals or organization that has made a significant contribution to changing the attitudes and policies of the rich world towards the poor."

The Utstein group is receiving the award because its "dedication, vision and leadership in reducing global poverty and inequality, challenging the norms of the development "establishment", and highlighting the importance of policy coherence made it the best choice."

The award is being given to the four original members of the group: the former Dutch Minister for Development Co-operation, Ms Eveline Herfkens, the British Minister for International Development, Ms Clare Short, the German Minister of Economic Co-operation and Development, Ms Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul, and our own minister Ms Hilde F. Johnson. The Utstein group was formed in 1999, during a meeting at Utstein Abbey on the west coast of Norway.

Press contact: Head of Information Espen Gullikstad, cell phone +47 91 70 81 22

Please find enclosed The Center for Global Development and Foreign Policy Magazine’s own press release. (word-document)