Norway strengthens control of development funds and fight against corruption

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is implementing a number of measures to strengthen the administration of Norwegian development funds, including better systems for dealing with suspected misuse of funds.

“We  must acknowledge that there is a high risk of misuse of funds and corruption in development cooperation. We want to help countries where the need is greatest. Many of these countries have weak social structures and widespread corruption. But we must constantly seek to ensure better control of our development funds,” said Minister of the Environment and International Development Erik Solheim, when he presented a number of new measures to strengthen the administration of Norwegian development funds. These include:

• A new whistle-blowing channel will be established on 1 January 2008. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has entered into an agreement with the law firm G-Partner, one of Norway’s leading financial investigation firms, which is headed by lawyer Erling Grimstad. Under the agreement, G-Partner will receive and carry out a preliminary investigation of notifications of suspected misuse of funds. 
• A central control unit will be established to ensure that the Ministry’s instructions, systems and routines for financial management are adequate and are followed. The unit will also administer the new whistle-blowing system for suspected cases of misuse of funds. 
• A poster explaining whistle-blowing procedures has been produced and new guidelines are being drawn up for dealing with cases of suspected misuse of funds. 
• Competence-building measures in this area are being implemented in the Ministry. These include both enhancing general training and establishing new more specialised courses.  

These measures are the result of the Ministry’s anti-corruption project, which started one year ago. The project has also helped to bolster Norway’s efforts to fight corruption at international level. 

“Norway is taking part in a number of international initiatives to fight corruption. For example, we are chairing an international working group that is looking at illegal capital flight from developing countries and the impact this has. The group will meet in Oslo on 12–13 December. Through this work, we hope to gain greater knowledge about the problem and identify what can be done,” said Mr Solheim. 

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has also emphasised the important role the business sector has to play in the fight against corruption. A new, revised edition of the Norwegian version of the information brochure It pays to say no to corruption, which is targeted at Norwegian businesses and administration, has been published. 

Norway has also provided NOK 300 000 to support the website Business Anti-corruption Portal, which publishes information on around 50 developing countries to small and medium-sized enterprises, and provides tools for helping them to identify and avoid corruption  

Press contact:
Information adviser Wera Helstrom, tel. +47 99 40 94 23.