The aid works — when someone asks questions

In a previous edition of this paper, former NORAD Research Director Øyvind Eggen makes a diagnosis that reinforces the mark. The internal criteria of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the use of aid funds has not been “is this the best use of money?” , but “can this be defended as aid?”. It's a decidable divorce. The first approach forces real option ratings: What is the best result? The second approach opens the door for virtually anyone to finance.

And that is precisely what has happened. Eggen affirms that support to other IPI was never subject to the same outcome requirements as aid organizations.

In Noreg we have state interpretation instructions (the study guide) to ensure that public funds were used in the best possible way and that genuine alternative assessments were made. The instruction states: “Incomplete or incomplete treatment may lead to the risk of incurring fences (...) that involve the waste of society's resources.” Unfortunately, for years the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been the only ministry in Norway that does not follow the instructions.

But we don't have to throw the baby out with the bathwater. If we discovered poor spending in the Norwegian school sector, we would audit the doctors responsible — not the end of education. This is how we should think about aid. Because we know a lot about what works — and Noreg has basically done just that.

In the same 15 years that Noreg supported IPI with NOK 130 million, Noreg provided about 100 more gongs to the vaccine alliance Gavi. Noreg's contribution has helped to save more human lives than were born in Norway during this period — well over one million lives. It is a result Noreg can be proud of.

Today, Noreg has over a thousand agreements on the aid budget. There is no belief that there is an optimal strategy to get the best results, or that all of these would have been funded if the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had followed the instructions. Both the Epstein scandal and the dramatic US aid cuts point in the same direction: aid needs more concentration, better options assessments and clearer priorities.

The Government is working on a parliamentary communication on development policy to be published by spring 2027. Minister of Development Aukrust said he was planning a reform. That is good, but it will happen if the Parliament dares to ask the right question: What are the funds in the state budget? can teljast as assistance, but what is it best the use of aid funds.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs should do the same as any other ministry: follow the guidelines, be open about barriers and show that every aid crown is used where it is most beneficial. For it is the poorest of the world who pay the price when we do not.

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