Norway intensifies efforts to promote

human rights
Laatst bijgewerkt: 16-12-2014 // The fight for strengthening human rights is the common
thread in everything Norway commits to internationally, said Minister of Foreign Affairs
Brge Brende. Human rights are under pressure internationally. Norway will therefore step up
its efforts to promote and protect human rights
The white paper, which is entitled "Opportunities for All: Human Rights in Norways Foreign
Policy and Development Cooperation", makes it clear that a commitment to human rights
must lie at the heart of Norways foreign and development policy.
There is a gap between the commitments states have made and the respect shown for human
rights in practice. I am concerned about the situation. Human rights are increasingly under
threat in many parts of the world, especially civil and political rights such as freedom of
expression and freedom of assembly. Failure to respect human rights is an infringement of the
rights of the individual. This impedes social development and has negative consequences at
local, national and international levels, said Mr Brende.
Individual freedom and public participation, the rule of law and legal protection, and equality
and equal opportunities are fundamental principles for all societies. It is the responsibility of
each and every state to protect human rights and prevent all forms of discrimination and
violence, including against women, children, religious minorities, indigenous peoples, people
with disabilities and sexual minorities.
In order to counteract deliberate attempts to undermine respect for human rights, we need to
strengthen the multilateral mechanisms for protecting human rights. Reprisals against people
and organisations who cooperate with the UN and other international organisations constitute
serious violations of their rights and are unacceptable attacks on the institutions that the
international community has built up and must defend, Mr Brende said.
The current international mechanisms for promoting and protecting human rights are not
strong enough. The Government is therefore advocating:
a significant increase in the share of the UNs total resources that is allocated to human
rights efforts;
clear criteria for countries applying for membership in the UN Human Rights Council;
efforts to enhance individual countries ability and capacity to fulfil their human rights
obligations and follow up the recommendations from the UN Human Rights Councils
Universal Periodic Review process.
Norway will play a leading role in efforts to ensure that the UN puts human rights first in all
its activities, not least at country level. We are actively supporting Secretary-General Ban KimoonsHuman Rights Up Frontinitiative. With the new white paper, the Government is
putting human rights at the top of the agenda in Norways foreign and development policy,
said Mr Brende.

Norway is giving high priority to education in its development policy, with a particular focus
on girls, children with disabilities, the poorest children, and children in crisis and conflicts.
This is an important element of Norways efforts to strengthen human rights.
The Government will pursue a coherent policy for human rights, where efforts to promote and
protect human rights are integrated into our work at global, regional and bilateral levels. It is
essential that efforts in different policy areas pull in the same direction and are mutually
reinforcing. Respect for human rights is not only a foreign policy goal, it is also a means of
achieving lasting development and security throughout the world.
I would like to thank the nearly 40 organisations that have provided almost 400 comments
and suggestions for this white paper. This demonstrates the strength of the Norwegian
commitment to human rights. I look forward to further cooperation in implementing the
vision and priorities set out in this important document, said Mr Brende.
In the white paper, the Government announces a number of priorities, including:
setting clear requirements for the recipients of Norwegian aid as regards their willingness to
promote human rights, democracy and the rule of law, and making it clear that serious
violations of human rights or an unwillingness to comply with human rights obligations will
have consequences for further cooperation;
actively using the EEA and Norway Grants to promote democracy, the rule of law and
human rights in the European Economic Area, and strengthening the efforts of the Council of
Europe and the OSCE in these fields;
reinforcing efforts to eliminate child labour, child marriage and genital mutilation of girls;
working systematically to ensure that programmes Norway supports in the UN and World
Bank systems promote the protection of human rights;
striving to ensure that the human rights perspective is clearly integrated into the new UN
sustainable development goals;
strengthening efforts to protect human rights defenders and promoting a strong and
independent civil society;
drawing up a strategy for the promotion of freedom of expression and independent media in
foreign policy and development cooperation.