Opportunities for All: Human Rights in Norway’s Foreign
Policy and Development Cooperation
White paper on human rights in
Norway’s foreign and development
policy
Three main thematic priority areas
1. Individual freedom and public participation
• Children's right to education: focus on protecting schools in
countries affected by war and conflict
• Finalise and promote the Lucens Guidelines
2. Rule of law and legal protection
• Promote economic rights in the post-conflict societies in the
Balkans
3. Equality and equal opportunities
Introduction
• Human crisis categorised as level 3 by the
UN:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Poverty
Conflict
Terrorism and epidemics (ISIL)
Climate and environmental challenges
Security policy
• Strategy based on the understanding that
instability abroad can have internal
consequences (crisis in Ukraine)
• Forceful national defence + NATO
membership = security
• Sources of support: NATO, EU and the
European Council
Terrorism, organised crime and digital
threats
• New challenges: digital attacks, drug trafficking, terrorism,
radicalisation and polarisation tendencies, human trafficking,
illegal use of natural resources, the distribution of weapons of
mass destruction and piracy
• Strategy: strengthen the states’ own capacity in dealing with
these challenges
• Support the UN’s global anti-terror strategy
• Make sure that international measures used in the fight against
terrorism, international crime and cyber threats are in
accordance with human rights law (mentions autonomous
weapons)
Human rights, security reform and
peace operations
Priority areas:
•
•
•
Work actively towards the protection of human rights and civilians
during international peace operations
Work actively towards providing international operations with
mandates that authorise human rights reporting in the area where they
operate
Promote measures within the security sector reform that contribute to
the promotion of human rights, and for the inclusion of women, their
codetermination and needs, in the security sector reform
Peace, humanitarian efforts and
combating international crimes
• Incorporation of human rights into the
agenda of any peace process
• The government will work towards:
– Universal ratification of the ICC
– Keeping the ICC functions going and support
capacity-building projects that empower states to
carry out criminal prosecutions for war crimes
– Encourage the referral of serious situations by the
Security Council to the ICC
Human Rights Work at the Regional
Level
• Europe: Ukraine & Azerbaijan
• OSCE: mission to Ukraine, where Norway is contributing with
financial resources and personnel (NORDEM)
• Middle East and Northern Africa: Israel/Palestine, Syria, Iraq,
ISIL
• Africa: South-Sudan, Somalia, Nigeria (Boko Haram), DR
Congo and the Central African Republic
• South and East Asia: terrorism in Afghanistan and Pakistan
Priorities: Strengthen the regional human rights systems, especially in
Europe. Strengthen the knowledge, contact and cooperation with the
other human rights systems, institutions and the civil society.
Specific countries:
• Indonesia – Indonesia
programme
• South Sudan – massive
violations of human rights.
Dialogue is challenging.
Concluding remarks:
•
dilemmas