‘The Government has proposed a NOK 10 million increase in its funding for civil society’s international efforts to promote human rights. This additional funding will be used to strengthen efforts to promote freedom of expression and freedom of religion or belief,’ Foreign Minister Ine Eriksen Søreide said.
In the revised budget, the Government has proposed a NOK 10 million increase in the human rights allocation, bringing the total for 2018 to NOK 370 million.
‘Unfortunately, human rights are currently under pressure both in Europe and in many other places around the world. It is crucial that efforts to promote human rights and the shared and universal values they are based on are maintained,’ said Ms Eriksen Søreide.
‘The increased allocation is in line with the Government’s political platform, which aims to strengthen efforts to promote human rights, through international forums, development policy and support for civil society development. The Government will continue to intensify its efforts for freedom of religion or belief,’ Ms Eriksen Søreide said.
This year marks the anniversary of two key breakthroughs in the field of human rights: It is 70 years since the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and 20 years since the adoption of the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders.
On Tuesday, 15 May, the Office of the Auditor General published a report from its management audit of the Climate and Forest Initiative – NICFI. –The report provides several useful insights and reminders, and we will follow up on the suggested recommendations in order to further improve our efforts. However, we disagree with some of the key conclusions, said Norway’s Minister of Climate and Environment, Ola Elvestuen.
Formosa Singers in Taipei National Concert Hall with conductor Thomas Caplin. Photo credit Formosa Singers.
In 2016 he took his youth choir on an Asia tour with about 24 choir members, the board and some parents. The trip went to Taiwan (Taipei and Tainan) and Korea. One of their songs was in Paiwanese, one of the languages of the Polynesian indigenous people of Taiwan. My wife, also a singer, attended the concert and said the conductor was great in getting the best out of each singer.
– Before the concert, Thomas Caplin wrote on facebook, there were two ladies looking at this poster in the lobby, so I went up next to them also looking. Then the younger looked up and said – “Oh! It’s you!!” She and her mother agreed that in reality I could be the son of that man in on the poster. So I said “Thank you….” what lovely women… :). Photo credit Thomas Caplin.
Global shipping should set a goal of halving greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, Norway’s government and shipowners’ association said on Thursday before talks by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) in London next week.
The Government’s strategy for cooperation with the EU in the period 2018-2021 has two main messages. Firstly, our cooperation with the EU must help to realise the Government’s vision for our part of the world: a Europe that is secure, free, and economically strong, and where the individual countries take joint responsibility for addressing shared challenges. Secondly, the Government will pursue an effective European policy that enables us to promote Norwegian interests and our vision for Europe as successfully as possible.
The former Norwegian Prime Minister, Kjell Magne Bondevik, has said that the miseries of the Kashmiris should end now.
Iceland Foods, the UK-based frozen food retailer, is set to enter the Norwegian market this year, according to 
Almost 14 million young people in Europe are not in employment, education or training. The new regional EEA and Norway Grants Fund for Youth Employment supports the most vulnerable among them, to help them gain a foothold in the labour market.
Members of the British parliament will be offered a chance to vote on remaining in the European Economic Area (EEA) after leaving the European Union, following a surprise vote in the House of Lords late on Tuesday (8 May).
Norway remains a committed partner of Ukraine on the path to its European and Euro-Atlantic aspirations, State Secretary at the Norwegian Foreign Ministry Audun Halvorsen has said.
Norwegian biopharmaceutical firm Nordic Nanovector has revealed that its Chief Executive Officer Luigi Costa is set to step down from his role at the company, with the decision made with mutual agreement from its Board of Directors. Costa has pledged to remain available to the board until the end of July this year, while the company seeks a replacement.
SINGAPORE – A Norwegian national, who took advantage of a drunk woman outside a nightclub at Clarke Quay, was sentenced to a year in jail on Friday (May 25) for the “very intrusive” act.
The streaming platform Tidal, whose most public owner and champion is rapper and entrepreneur 
Jordan’s Queen Alia International Airport (QAIA) welcomed the first Norwegian Airlines flight on May 8, marking the start of biweekly flights between Amman and Copenhagen, Denmark.
‘The Government is proposing to increase its allocation to technical cooperation on taxation through Norad’s Knowledge Bank by NOK 13 million. This is one step on the way to doubling our support for ‘tax for development’ by 2020,’ said Minister of International Development Nikolai Astrup.
Norwegian Ecologists have recruited seals as a new ally for monitoring the effects of climate change.
‘Norway’s humanitarian budget has never been bigger than it is now, but the needs created by the world’s humanitarian crises are continuing to grow. The Government has therefore proposed increasing the humanitarian budget by NOK 116 million. The additional funds will be channelled primarily to the crises in Yemen and the Democratic Republic of Congo,’ said Minister of Foreign Affairs Ine Eriksen Søreide.
On vacation in California, Norwegian research physicians and family friends Thomas and Marthe-Lisa Naess-Andresen recently visited Pasadena.
The Ministry of Petroleum and Energy presented its assessment of the full scale carbon capture, transport and storage (CCS) project in Norway. The Government proposes to fund FEED studies (Front End Engineering and Design studies) with 80 million NOK in 2018. The total funding for the demonstration project in 2018 amounts to 280 million NOK, including funds transferred from 2017. The proposed funds for 2018 will cover FEED studies of CO2 transport, storage and up to two capture facilities.
Photo from Ximending, Taipei, by Tore Hauge.
