Impact 16 Nor th 4 Nor th par ticipants inter viewed all stated that they learned a
6. Fredskorpset Compared to Similar Programmes and Modalities
6.1 Fredskorpset within overall Norwegian Development Assistance
In general Fredskorpset falls squarely within the framework of Norwegian development assistance, however in some respect the institution stands out as a particular case. According to the statutes, Fredskorpset’s overall objective is to contribute to the overarching aims of Norwegian development assistance. Fredskorpset is expected to strengthen civil society, local organizations and democratic structures. Appropriation letters from the MFA specify this further, stating that Fredskorpset should also concentrate on the key sectors of Norwegian aid: “Education; HIV/AIDS; sustainable development; private sector development, trade and agriculture; good governance; civil society; culture; peace building; ensuring the rights of women and children and the rights of vulnerable groups such as indigenous peoples and the disabled.”20By virtue of this, Fredskorpset falls fully within and forms an integral part of
Norwegian development policy.
On the other hand, Fredskorpset occupies a particular position within this context in several ways.
Institutionally, it is established as a separate state institution21. Formally, Fredskorpset is
under the MFA, and is regulated through statutes and instructions in the yearly appropriation letters. This institutional set-up gives considerable independence in the day-to-day running of the institution and in the implementation of the instructions received.
Another distinguishing factor of Fredskorpset may be the wideness of its approach. Not only is the institution engaged in a variety of priority areas, as detailed above. It also covers all sectors: Civil society organizations from NGOs to social movements, public institutions, private companies and municipalities. Such wide coverage may be quite unique for a single funding mechanism.
More fundamentally, Fredskorpset further distinguishes itself by having the twin objectives of contributing to development in the South, and to increased knowledge about and involve- ment with North-South issues in Norway. Similar objectives exist for Norwegian develop- ment assistance’s use of the NGO channel, where funds are granted according to purpose: One grant for development activities in the South and one grant for information activities in Norway. Fredskorpset’s exchange programme appears to be fairly unique in combining these objectives for a single activity.
Finally, the use of the exchange of people as the key means of obtaining its objectives is also particular to Fredskorpset. In general, technical assistance was phased out of Norwegian aid during the 1990s. While the odd expert or advisor may still be found within a particular project or programme, such personnel assistance is now a peripheral part of Norwegian development cooperation. As a programme focusing directly and exclusively on the exchange of personnel, Fredskorpset is alone in Norwegian development cooperation.
But whether Fredskorpset is understood as located within the mainstream of Norwegian aid or as existing on the fringes, it remains a fact that in term of funds, it only makes up a very
20 From the appropriation letter for 2005. 21 Statlig for valtningsorgan med særskilte fullmakter.
small part. In the 2006 budget, the 165 million NOK allocated for Fredskorpset account for only 0.9 per cent of the aid budget. The relatively small weight of Fredskorpset within overall Norwegian aid is illustrated in Table 12.
Table 12: Norwegian ODA 2005 by Budget Item (in mill. NOK)
Source: St.prp. nr. 1 (2006-2007)
Among the different Norwegian aid forms and channels, Fredskorpset probably has most in common with the NGO channel. Objectives of supporting civil society in the South as well as stimulating interest for North-South issues in Norway are common to the two funding channels. Ideas of equal partnerships are central to both and there is a significant degree of overlap in terms of organizations being supported through them. Moreover, the ideals of balanced partnerships are fundamental for both. Of course, Fredskorpset spans wider in that both public institutions and private companies take part in the programme, while on the other hand the NGO channel is much larger in monetary terms22. Still, given the mentioned paral-
lels, it should be pointed out that recent policy documents emphasize roles for NGOs and civil society organizations as implementers of Norwegian development aid, which are very much in line with tasks assigned Fredskorpset. The common objectives are to strengthen civil society, democratization and the promotion of human rights, to provide services within key sectors such as education and health, to stimulate economic growth, to work for peace and reconciliation, and to promote the rights of vulnerable groups23. Furthermore, it is interesting
to note that the “Committee established by the MFA to assess the Norwegian NGOs as a channel for development cooperation” – also known as Rattsø 2 – in its final report presented in June 2006, came up with four main conclusions24, three of which may have relevance also
for Fredskorpset:
• The committee’s first main conclusion is to argue for a stronger South orientation and ownership in Norwegian development cooperation, implying for instance that civil society support should to a larger extent be channelled directly to organizations in the South. Fredskorpset’s South-South programme corresponds extremely well to this line of thinking; • Secondly, the committee argues that within the framework of long term development
cooperation, support through Norwegian NGOs should give priority to cooperation with “natural partners”, where North and South organizations should have similar social bases and tasks. Again, this corresponds well with Fredskorpset’s strategy, which is based on precisely such partnerships;
Administration 776 4,3 %
Bilateral aid 2,934 16,1 %
Global budget lines 8,353 45,8 %
Civil society and democracy development (excluding Fredskorpset) 1,337 7,3 %
Fredskorpset 145 0,8 %
Private sector development 741 4,1 %
Transitional assistance (gap) 1,090 6,0 %
Relief, humanitarian assistance, Human Rights 2,733 15,0 %
Peace, reconciliation and democracy 1,397 7,7 %
Research, capacity building and evaluation 425 2,3 %
Various 53 0,3 %
Refugee costs in Nor way 432 2,4 %
Multilateral aid 5,920 32,5 %
Other aid (non-ODA) 260 1,4 %
Total 18,242 100,0 %
Budget Item NOK Per cent
22 In 2004, NOK 3,220 million were channeled through Nor wegian NGOs, almost 25 times the amount Fredskorpset received (MFA 2006: Nye roller for frivillige organisasjoner i utviklingssamarbeidet,p 47).
23 See for instance Stor tingsmelding 35 (2003-2004); Borchgrevink 2004. 24 MFA 2006: Nye roller for frivillige organisasjoner i utviklingssamarbeidet,pp 41-43.
• Finally, the recommendation that support should be on the basis of more explicit goals and better systems for monitoring of results and for evaluations, may be seen as offering sound advise also for Fredskorpset.
Other aid programmes with similarities to Fredskorpset is Norad’s “MatchMaking Program” (MMP) and the Norad’s Programme for Master Studies (NOMA; until 2006 called the Norad Fellowship Programme). The MMP aims at establishing joint ventures between Norwegian companies and companies in India, Sri Lanka and South Africa. It offers funding (partial) and consultancy services for the identification of partners, establishing first contacts and realizing feasibility studies. There is a similarity to Fredskorpset in the objective of establish- ing North-South partnerships, but the fact that the MMP is limited to the private sector and does not involve the exchange of personnel means that the programme logic is basically different from Fredskorpset’s. The NOMA offers grants for people from developing countries to study in Norway. The Programme is managed by the Norwegian Council for Higher Education. Parallels to Fredskorpset include the focus on capacity building through the development of skills and knowledge in individuals. However, the NOMA lacks the mutuality and reciprocity of Fredskorpset’s partnership model, and it deals only with formal education, which Fredskorpset is specifically blocked from supporting. Thus, the MMP and NOMA programmes should basically be seen as complementary to Fredskorpset rather than overlapping.
Another parallel which could be pointed out is between Fredskorpset and the many twinning arrangements, which have been established between communities and municipalities in the North and South. The umbrella organization Vennskap Nord-Sør(Friendship North South) embraces close to 200 such twinning arrangements with Norwegian communities. Some of these take part in Fredskorpset’s programmes, but the important thing in this respect is that this idea of concrete solidarity between people, which predates the new Fredskorpset (and may even have inspired it), also has significant public and political support.
In conclusion, Fredskorpset has the same overarching objectives as Norwegian development cooperation in general, and is in many ways parallel to the financially important and politi- cally relatively uncontroversial NGO channel. Thus, Fredskorpset should be seen as a natural part of Norwegian development assistance. But Fredskorpset also has important particularities, in terms of objectives both in the North and the South, and in terms of its focus on exchange of people. Fredskorpset occupies a separate niche, which no other institutions or programmes fill.