The following is today published in Panorama Nyheter. This is a professional magazine about Norwegian and international development and aid. Online, they publish daily news updates, reports, and opinion pieces, including foreign coverage of Africa, Latin America, Asia, and the Middle East. Additionally, starting from 2023, a semi-annual print magazine is also published.
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English version of the piece published in Panorama Nyheter:
It has been 20 years since the effort for culture and development shifted to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In August, Norad will re-assume responsibility. Over these 20 years, Culture has existed in the shadow of international development cooperation. However, unlike many other countries, Norway has maintained its commitment and invested thoughtful consideration into its direction.
It began poorly with the Strategy for Norway's Cultural and Sports Cooperation with Countries in the South, launched in August 2005. In a letter from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, it was stated that Norwegian aid organizations could not expect future support for cultural projects. Norwegian cultural life was expected to carry out these projects in collaboration with embassies. The Section for Culture, Promotion of Norway, and Protocol was tasked with this responsibility. By the time cultural assistance was shifted to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the institutionalization between culture and diplomacy was already well established. It had evolved through collaboration on promoting Norway and representing Norwegian art abroad.
After an evaluation in 2011, the restructuring began, and in June 2013, White Paper No. 19 (2012-13) was presented during the Stoltenberg II administration. During the parliamentary debate, Karin S. Woldseth from the Progress Party, the spokesperson for the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, stated: "I see that the government is making a significant investment by having three ministers – the Minister of Foreign Affairs and two other ministers (Minister of Culture and Minister of International Development) present here in the chamber, on an issue where there is almost consensus. I understand that international cultural efforts are taken extremely seriously." The report established a rights-based perspective for culture in development policy. It was followed by increased funding in Prime Minister Stoltenberg's proposed budget for 2014, which was subsequently halved after the election of new prime minister Solberg's budget adjustments later that fall.
Foreign Minister Børge Brende thus inherited the political framework when he assumed office and was tasked with its implementation. This "reorientation entails an ambitious effort to achieve better results from cultural aid." In his recommendation to the ministry in 2014, it was also stated "(...) that some Norwegian actors may perceive this as neglecting their work." This marked the end of the collaboration between culture and diplomacy in the development field.
Later Brende invited the small group of rights-based cultural and development organizations in Norway to participate in the work on White Paper No. 10 (2014-2015), focusing on human rights as both a goal and means in foreign and development policy. A milestone in this Conservative era was the Strategy for Freedom of Expression in Foreign and Development Policy presented by Foreign Minister Søreide in the summer of 2021. It includes artistic expressions in the concept of freedom of expression and asserts that artists have the same right to protection as journalists. Norway stands alone in such a strategic directive in its international work.
Norwegian policy has gained increasing international recognition. Since 2009, Norway has supported the Special Rapporteur on Cultural Rights in the Human Rights Council. This has brought much-needed attention to the field internationally. The rights-based perspective also, finally, re-entered UNESCO and the 2005 Convention after 2015. Job creation through creative industries was the prevailing idea during campaigns to include culture in the UN's goals for international development cooperation.
Sweden also reopened its commitment after 15 years in the shadows. This happened in 2021, with a three-year program for artistic freedom. The program was defined by Sida and implemented by the Swedish Arts Council within a political perspective like that of Norway. The program's choice of non-Nordic partners was also well known to the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs through their cooperation with Norwegian Mimeta.
In May 2023, UNESCO launched the report Defending Creative Voices, a comprehensive review of international protection mechanisms for artists. The work was fully supported by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This demonstrates much-needed coherence in international efforts for our own policy. Such coherence is important to maintain as policy development and administration are now to be separated, respectively in The Department of Foreign Affairs and Norad.
Norad's opportunity to directly engage in the administration of Norway's human rights efforts opens up new avenues. The director of Norad stated at last year's World Expression Forum in Lillehammer that they only support freedom of expression environments in the media sector working on themes related to Norad's other initiatives. Support for freedom of expression can now be on clear terms. The work for cultural rights will also be managed by Norad from August onwards. Not as in the old days, to change a narrative about, for example, gender equality through a production of Ibsen's "A Doll's House" in Mali, but to support those fighting for a society where artistic expressions are protected, and participation in artistic production is possible.
