Norske forpliktelser på FNs flyktningforum

Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research

1 Supporting Unesco global qualifications passport for refugees and vulnerable migrants

Norway supports the development of a global Unesco Qualifications Passport for Refugees and Vulnerable Migrants. In 2019 Norway supported the Unesco pre-pilot in Zambia in 2019 with NOK 1.5 million. The Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research has signalled that a similar level of support may be available for 2020. Additionally, Norway is committed to support the European Qualifications Passport and the Council of Europe with NOK 1.1 million during the time period 2018-2020 subject to Parliamentary approval for 2020. The Norwegian Agency for Quality Assurance in Education (Nokut) is providing technical support explained in this qualifications passport infofilm.  

Assessing qualifications for refugees who cannot provide documentation of their previous studies or education is an innovative, multilateral solution that may contribute to inclusion of refugees and vulnerable migrants into host societies and labour markets, acknowledging their qualifications. This will contribute to several targets under the SDGs specifically goals 4 and 8. There are already positive results, by 25^th  October 2019, 367 individuals had received an European Qualifications Passport. By early 2019, 21 refugees in Europe had entered higher education on the basis of their qualifications passport document. The potential users are primarily refugees themselves, but also national recognition authorities, educational institutions, migration authorities, and employers.   

2 Strengthen and increase integration efforts in Norway through policy development and financial commitment   

The Norwegian Government is committed to intensify efforts to promote integration. New policy development is followed by earmarked budget allocations/financial commitment, aiming to increase labour market participation of refugees and immigrants in Norway through investing in formal education, skills and qualifications. Furthermore, increased participation in social life and society in general is also an important goal for this comprehensive effort. In October 2018, the Norwegian Government presented a new Integration Strategy "Integration Through Knowledge", accessible online.

The strategy period is 2019-2022, consisting of 57 measures where the target groups are refugees and other immigrants in Norway, as well as local  authorities, private sector and civil society. This commitment promotes economic opportunities, decent work, job creation, and entrepreneurship programmes for refugees. Women, children, young adults and older persons are target groups, and this policy fosters inclusive economic growth for the Norwegian society in large. This contribution is in line with many objectives of the Global Compact on Refugees, as well as supporting several Agenda 2030 SDG goals.

Noregian Ministry of Justice and Public Security

3 Resettlement of refugees - quota 2020, general support of resettlement and UNHCR's resettlement strategy, attend core groups, support Crisp

Norway will offer resettlement for 3 000 refugees in 2020. Norway will follow UNHCR's recommendations regarding priority situations, and will offer a geographically dispersed programme  including children, women and men of various nationalities, faiths, sexual orientations etc. Norway will continue to resettle refugee beyond 2020, following annual budget processes regarding the quota size.

In 2020 Norway will be funding around 13,1 million NOK for UNHCR/IOM for operational support for Norwegian selecion missions in various countries.

Norway will support Crisp with experts in 2020, given coverage in the national budget.

Norway supports UNHCR's three-year resettlement strategy.

Norway will participate in the Priority Situation Core Group and the EU/EASO Resettlement and Complementary Pathway Network.

4 Funding to enhance UNHCR's resettlement capacity

Norway will offer approximately 8,8 million NOK for UNHCR in 2020 to enhance UNHCR's resettlement capacity. Norway has provided this type of support over many years. By doing so, Norway recognizes the challenges UNHCR is facing in the resettlement field. The aim of the funding is to strenghten UNHCR's resettlement capacity in the way UNHCR finds most useful, following project proposals from UNHCR.

5 Bilateral Cooperation with Host Countries and Countries of Origin

Norway finds it important to have bilateral cooperation with states facing challenges in the migration field, be they host countries, countries of origin or both. Norway is aiming at cooperating with up to nine states directly and/or with for instance IOM, UNHCR or other organisations as implementing partners.

The projects will be aiming at supporting capacity building within migration management and systems more in general, by offering assistance from Norwegian personell in relevant countries and/or inviting personell from relevant countries to Norway. There will be a bilateral agreement on which topics to focus on.  Projects can also be relating to offering support  for necessary equipment, information projects, assisting in various ways for reintegration etc.

6 Support the Asylum Capacity Support Group (ACSG)

Norway supports the establishment of the Asylum Capacity Support Group. Given that it can be supported within existing budgets, Norway will be able to support the group with experts. How many and from which agencies will have to be considered on a case by case basis, taking into account the character of the request(s). 

7 Research and Analysis in the Asylum and Migration Field

The asylum and migration field is complex. Norway will continue to have funding for research programmes and projects in the asylum and the migration field in order to provide more knowlegde about certain aspects and topics, make analysis of various situations and measure outcomes and impact of policies. 

8 Consider contributing with interpreters for UNHCR

Being aware of UNHCR's challenges in finding competent interpreters in some refugee situations, Norway will consider whether it will be possible to contribute with interpreters from Norway - funded by Norway fully or by sharing costs with UNHCR in relevant situations.

9 Reduction of fee for application for family reunification with recognised refugees with a temporary residence permit

Norway has had relatively high fees for applications for familiy immigration in general, including family reunification with recognised refugees. Norway will reduce the fee for reunification with recognised refugees with a temporary residence permit.

10 Possibility of temporary working permit for asylumseekers given certain conditions.

Asylumseekers who have completed their asylum interviews, and where there are no doubt about their identity, can apply for and be granted temporary work permit while waiting for the asylum application to be adjudicated.

Asylumseekers who are living in socalled integration reception centers and who's identity has been acknowledged by the authorities, does not have to wait for the asylum interview; they can obtain such a temporary work permit. The regulation was amended in 2017.

Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs

11 Support to protection against sexual and gender-based violence

Norway reaffirms our comittments made at the Oslo Conference Ending Sexual and Gender-Based Violence in Humanitarian Crises and under the Call to Action Network. Norway made a financial pledge of NOK 1 billion (approx. USD 115 million) to protection from SGBV via several humanitarian partners over a three-year period. The conference also resulted in commitments from 21 donors of a total of USD 363 million.

Norway also reaffirs our commitments under the Call to Action Network and the Call to Action Global Refugee Forum Joint Statement.

Norway will raise the issue of SGBV systematically with all partners that receive Norwegian support, and we will promote the issue of SGBV in all relevant negotiations in the UN. Norway will ensure that progress is reviewed after Oslo, and consider specific follow-up in selected countries. 

Norway's commitment are established in Norway's Humanitarian Strategy (2019-2023) and Norway's Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security (2019-2022).

Norway will support the UNHCR 2020 appeal with earmarked contributions. 

12 Supporting education in crisis and conflict situations

Norway is contributing with a substantial amount to education through the humanitarian budget. Refugees, internally displaced and host communities are the beneficiaries. The main partners are Unicef, UNHCR, Save the Children (Norway) and Norwegian Refugee Council. Also, Norway is supporting education in crisis from the development budget, where the most important partners include Unicef, the Global Partnership for Education and Unesco. 

Norway helped initiating- and support the Education Cannot Wait fund, launched at the World Humanitarian Summit. This year Norway pledged 500 million kroner to ECW over four years (totally).

Norway promotes enchanced protection of education through the Sae Schools Declaration that now has been endorsed by 100 countries). 

It is encouraging that education has a prominent place in the Global Compact on Refugees. We are also pleased that more and more countries are including refugees in their national education system. We encourage more donor countries contribute and more host countries to include refugees in their education systems.

Norway is pledging 10 million Norwegian kroner to UNHCR for implementation of their education strategy.            

13 Actively promote green humanitarian response to ensure that environmental and climate-related considerations are fully integrated into humanitarian responses

The Norwegian government will promote green humanitarian response and support the humanitarian sector as a whole to  move towards more environmentally friendly solutions and carbon neutrality. We will

• leverage joint donors’ positions to ensure that humanitarian organisations prioritise greening of their responses.
• organise multistakeholder events to raise awareness of the need to integrate environmental and climate related considerations in responses
• provide expert personnel to international organisations and national partners to support the integration of environmental and climate-related considerations in strategies and plans, including through the Norcap programme ‘Strengthening access to climate information and energy services for populations in vulnerable and emergency settings’. Energy expert rooster, annual support of about NOK 24 million .
• support for the Clean Cooking Alliance (CCA) (NOK 12.4 million in 2019,
• will shortly enter into another core support agreement, where  Humanitarian work will be prioritized, however currently no specified amount decided upon. 
• support to Energizing Development (EnDev)'s work for refugees and vulnerable groups. NOK 14 million for 2019. Continued partnership with EnDev in 2020, supporting their new strategy.  Humanitarian efforts will be included, however no sum specified yet.

14 Support humanitarian partners in choosing sustainable, carbon neutral, low-emissions and environmentally friendly solutions for their humanitarian operations

The Norwegian government will ensure that environmental and climate-related considerations are taken fully into account and integrated into all stages of the humanitarian responses that we are funding. The objective is to minimize the negative impacts of the response on the climate and environment. We will include the issue of greening of responses in regular consultations with partners, including requirements for adequate energy strategies. We will support our partners to

• address barriers to developing cost effective sustainable energy solutions and move towards sustainable energy solutions and carbon reduction programmes
• scale up susteinable enrgy solutions and reduce reliance on diesel fuel
• engage with the private sector and/or hosting nations to facilitate the adoption of sustainable energy solutions.

15 Support humanitarian innovation for greening of responses

In 2018, the Norwegian humanitarian innovation programme (HIP Norway) was established to facilitate the creation of new meeting places and partnerships between humanitarian organisations and private companies. The program grants funding to UN organisations and Norwegian NGOs to develop, test and scale new technological solutions that can contribute to a better and more efficient humanitarian assistance. It allows humanitarian organisations to venture into strong innovation partnerships with potentially greater impact, while the government shares the financial risk. Projects that contribute to more sustainable and more environmentally friendly solutions within humanitarian aid are given priority. NOK 38 million in 2019, to be continued in 2020.

16 The Clean Energy Challenge – Joint Pledge

“Norway and France, together with Canada, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Sweden, FAO, UNITAR, WFP, GPA Coordination Unit, ACT Alliance, Clean Cooking Alliance, Globesight, Ikea Foundation, NRC, Mercy Corps,  Millennium Water Alliance, OXFAM International, Practical Action, Safe Access to Fuel and Energy (SAFE) Humanitarian Working Group, Smart Communities Coalition and Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL), will accept UNHCR's Clean Energy Challenge and support the ambition that "all refugee settlements and nearby host communities will have access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy by 2030."

This is a joint pledge expressing political support to the Clean Energy Challenge, which may be supplemented by additional, individual pledges to the Challenge.”

17 Unearmarked support to UNHCR

Unearmarked contribution to UNHCR's general budget with 380 million Norwegian kroner for 2020.

18 Support to the Emergency Transit Center in Rwanda, for vulnerable refugees and migrants evacuated from Libya

Norway is providing support to UNHCR, with 50 million Norwegian kroner (approx. 5,4 million USD), to implement the tri-partite Memorandum of Understanding between UNHCR, African Union and the Government of Rwanda, for an Emergency Transit Center (ETM) in Gashora, Rwanda to support vulnerable refugees and migrants evacuated from Libya. 

Joint Pledge with the Netherlands 

19 Mental health and psychosocial support in humanitarian responses

Mental health and psychosocial support is essential to restore people’s day-to-day functioning on all levels, to help those affected access life-saving services, to support resilience after an emergency and to rebuild peaceful societies. Subscribers to this pledge emphasize that mental health and psychosocial support needs to be given adequate attention in all sectors of the humanitarian response with the aim of individual and collective recovery. Affected persons and communities, both refugees and people in host communities, should be enabled to participate in the development and delivery of services for their benefit.

As discussed at the International Conference on mental health and psychosocial support in crisis situations, Mind the Mind now (6 & 7 October, Amsterdam), and endorsed in the Declaration Mind the Mind now (www.mhpss2019.nl), the subscribers to this pledge agree to integrate and seek opportunities to further scale up mental health and psychosocial support in humanitarian responses and recognize the need for evidence and innovation to accelerate responses at all levels of support.

Joint Pledge with Denmark 

20 Protection and empowerment of women and girls in forced displacement situations through comprehensive SRHR services and protection from SGBV

Women and girls are disproportionally affected in forced displacement situations. This includes a heightened risk of sexual and gender-based violence and harmful practices and coping strategies such as child marriage and missing out on education leading to socio-economic exclusion and marginalization.

The heightened risks of women and girls are amplified by the lack of adequate SRHR services. This shortcoming is a leading cause of death, disease and disability. Family planning services can avert up to 32 % of maternal deaths and almost 10 % of childhood deaths in emergencies. Without ensuring access to SRHR services, we will not be responding to critical needs of women and girls.

The partners to the pledge are strong advocates of women and girls’ rights; the partners will provide continued financial and/or technical support for SRHR interventions and activities aimed at the prevention and mitigation of, and response to, SGBV.

Against this background, the partners to the pledge will continue collaboration with all partners to ensure SRHR and protection against SGBV, including prioritizing the rights of women and girls in forced displacement.

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(En norsk versjon vil følge seinere).