– In a time of many new bloody wars and with a record number of people on the run, with this budget the government is putting privileged Norwegians first. This is a very disjointed signal from one of the world’s richest countries.
Jan Egeland, Secretary General of the Norwegian Refugee Council, is ready in his speech. He believes the government is sending a signal to the rest of the world that we will no longer provide protection in “the world’s richest and safest country”.
A total of NOK 52.939 billion is proposed for aid next year. At the same time, the government will cut the number of quota refugees from 1,000 this year to 200 next year.
– The number of refugees and displaced persons in need of protection in safe countries such as Norway has never been greater, while our national income is at a record high, points out Egeland.
– The poor are the losers
The Red Cross and Church Aid are also not impressed by the government’s efforts for those in the world with the least.
– The world’s poorest are the losers in this budget. The government spends more money, but not for the world’s poorest, says general secretary Dagfinn Høybråten in the Church’s Emergency Aid.
He says that the Norwegian Church Aid is disappointed that the government is not fulfilling its own promise to spend 1 per cent of national income (GNI) on aid.
Where in the budget proposal for 2024 the government proposed to spend 0.94 per cent of gross national income (GNI) on aid, this time it is proposed to spend 0.92 per cent. There is an increase in kroner and øre, but the government will not reach its aid target this year either.
Serious breach of promise
– This is not the time for an actual decrease in aid funds that are used outside Norway’s borders, says Anne Bergh, secretary general of the Red Cross.
She believes that it is crucial that total humanitarian aid is maintained in order to limit human suffering in the many crises we are now facing.
– The serious human suffering in the Middle East, Ukraine and Sudan requires extraordinary support. At the same time, the conflicts must not come at the expense of people in other countries who are increasingly affected by climate change, crisis and conflict, says Bergh.
The Red Cross leader emphasizes that it is serious that the government breaks the aid promise of 1 percent of GNI.
– Prioritizes the big challenges
– The government delivers a large aid budget that prioritizes work on the major challenges in the world, says Development Minister Anne Beathe Tvinnereim (Sp) in a press release.
The proposal is an increase of a total of 200 million from the balanced budget for 2024. It appears in the budget proposal for Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Most of this goes to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ budget, but four other ministries also receive aid kroner.
“The government will increase aid in the coming years with a goal of using 1 percent of GNI for international efforts to achieve the UN goals of social, economic and environmental sustainability,” writes the ministry.
#Aid #actors #sigh #unsolidarist #budget #proposal
2024-10-07 13:38:06
