Ministry of Foreign Affairs strengthens administration of humanitarian assistance funds

Today, the Office of the Auditor General presented its report on the effectiveness of Norwegian humanitarian assistance. Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre made the following comment to the report: 

“The Office of the Auditor General’s review of our humanitarian assistance shows that Norway is one of the most important donor countries and that the world at large regards Norway as a good and credible partner. The report refers to the fact that Norway was ranked second best among humanitarian donor countries in an independent international evaluation last year. However, it also points out several areas that could be improved, particularly with regard to administration. The Ministry will now give priority to following up the Office of the Auditor General’s comments. 

“Allocations for humanitarian assistance have increased significantly over the last five to six years. This has made it possible for Norway to help thousands of people in need. But it has also brought additional challenges in terms of administering these funds. The Office of the Auditor General’s report gives us a good basis for making improvements, and we have already started this work. Norway’s new humanitarian policy, which the Government presented in September, takes several of the issues raised by the Office of the Auditor General into account.

“Daily, we have to make difficult decisions, balancing the need for rapid response with the need for thorough quality assurance systems. Increased use of long-term agreements will give recipients better opportunity to adjust funding as needs change. At the same time, I believe that our current efforts to help internally displaced people in DR Congo show that Norway’s response is both rapid and relevant when a situation is acute.