The humanitarian crisis in South Sudan is now so severe that the UN has declared a famine in parts of the country. ‘The situation is acute. We must act now to save lives. Norway is therefore providing NOK 135 million for emergency relief efforts in South Sudan,’ said Minister of Foreign Affairs Børge Brende.
One of the world’s most serious humanitarian crises is continuing to unfold in South Sudan. Armed conflict broke out in the country in December 2013, and there are still daily clashes between government and opposition forces. According to UN estimates, 7.5 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance. Around half of these are in urgent need of food.
‘It is the South Sudanese people who are paying the price for the conflict in the country. Sexual violence, abuse and other violations of human rights are widespread. The humanitarian crisis we are now witnessing is largely man-made. Norway consistently highlights this in our talks with the South Sudanese parties,’ said Mr Brende.
Mr Brende stressed once again that the responsibility for bringing an end to the conflict lies with the South Sudanese Government and the parties to the conflict.
‘The hostilities must cease if we are to be able to deliver emergency relief to all those in need of protection, food, drinking water, medical help and shelter. The rainy season will set in in a few months’ time. We must act now to get help through, while the roads are still dry and passable,’ Mr Brende said.
More than 3.4 million people have fled their homes. Of these, 1.5 million have fled to neighbouring countries. In addition to helping the population in South Sudan, Norway will also provide support to South Sudanese refugees in neighbouring countries. Every week, thousands of South Sudanese flee across the border to Uganda, which has received a total of 700 000 refugees. Most of the refugees are women and children.
The support provided by Norway will go primarily to efforts to improve food security, protection and education, and will be channelled through experienced humanitarian organisations: the UN, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and a number of Norwegian NGOs.
Norway has been one of the largest donors of humanitarian aid to South Sudan for several years, and in 2016 provided more than NOK 590 million in humanitarian support to the country.
Børge Brende, Norway’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, has accepted an invitation to attend the ‘Arctic: Territory of Dialogue’ 4th International Arctic Forum set to take place on March 29–30 in Arkhangelsk, it was revealed during a meeting of the G20 Foreign Ministers in Bonn, Germany. The visit to Arkhangelsk by Mr. Brende will be the first time a Norwegian Foreign Minister has visited Russia in three years, say the Forum organizers.
The unusual activity could be coming from a secret Russian nuclear missile launch, or from a hidden pharmaceutical business, but nobody is entirely sure.
It isn’t clear where Iodine-131 would ever have been released from. The US has deployed specialised planes to fly over Europe and isolate it – but have mostly failed.
Norwegian telecommunications group Telenor said Thursday it was leaving the Indian telecom market and transferring its businesses there to Bharti Airtel.
U.S. Air Force WC-135C Constant Phoenix Nuclear explosion “sniffer,” serial number 62-3582, deployed to RAF Mildenhall, UK, using radio callsign “Cobra 55.”
Norwegian ambassador to Sri Lanka Thorbjorn Gaustadsaether says that Norway is ready to invest in the Sri Lankan ports. “Norway is a small country.
Visiting Norwegian foreign minister Borge Brende on Monday laid emphasis on creating a favorable environment for Rohingyas in Myanmar so that they can go back to their own homes from Bangladesh.
Latvia does not recognize the “independence” of Nagorno-Karabakh and the “referendum” which is held there, Latvian Ambassador to Azerbaijan Juris Maklakovs told Trend on February 20.
Prime Minister Erna Solberg says ‘a joint effort is particularly important’ in the face of pro-life pressure.
A Norwegian man who sent emails and posted tweets threatening to kill Portland police officers last summer has been sentenced to 15 months in prison.
A number of British tourists are in hospital after being thrown into the icy seas off Norway when their speedboat hit a water fountain near the town of Harstad.
Although they cross the European airspace every now and then, their deployment in the Old Continent is somehow rare. As of yet, there has been no official statement from the U.S. military about the reasons why such nuclear research aircraft was deployed there. However, many sources suggest the aircraft was tasked with investigating the spike in Iodine levels detected in northern Europe since the beginning of January.
“If your nations do not want to see America moderate its commitment to this alliance, each of your capitals needs to show support for our common defense,” he said.
At the same time, the US has been clear that we need more defence spending, and fairer burden-sharing. This has been my top priority since I took office in 2014. After many years of cuts, I am glad to say that we have turned a corner. Our latest figures, which we published yesterday, show that defence spending among European Allies and Canada increased by 3.8% in real terms in 2016. And that is roughly 10 billion US dollars. This is significant, but it is not enough. We have to continue to increase defence spending across Europe and Canada. So, we need to keep the momentum.
Polish Parliamentary Speaker Marek Kuchciński opens a two-day visit to Norway on Tuesday, at the invitation of Olemic Thommessen, President of the Norwegian Parliament.
Minister of Fisheries of Norway, Per Sandberg, on Tuesday welcomed expansion of Iran-Norway cooperation in various fisheries and aqua culture domains.
The Norwegian Army is to be equipped with two new ground-based air defence systems, the country’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced on 6 February.
Serbia maintains good, stable relations with Norway, Serbian Deputy PM and Serbian FM Ivica Dacic said Tuesday, noting Norway was an important partner of Serbia and that bilateral economic cooperation should be boosted.
Norway, said Dacic, is an important partner of Serbia, while Norway, according to its officials, sees Serbia as its “partner plus” in the region.
Norway’s Norner Research will lead the Euro 2.5 million FuturePack project focusing on the development of new technologies for bioplastics and recycling of plastics packaging.
Norwegian Foreign Minister Borge Brende said in Zagreb on Monday that Croatia was a country of stability in Southeast Europe, exporting stability to its neighbours.
The Embassy of Sri Lanka to Norway celebrated the 69th Anniversary of Independence on 4th February 2017 at the embassy with the participation of over 150 members of the Sri Lankan community.
The programme commenced with the hoisting of the National Flag, followed by the singing of the National Anthem in Sinhala and Tamil. Two minutes silence was observed to honour those who participated in the independence struggle and sacrificed their lives safeguarding the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Sri Lanka.
The 69th Independence Day message of President Maithripala Sirisena was read in Tamil and Sinhala.
Norwegian Finance Minister Siv Jensen in a meeting with Iranian Ambassador to Oslo Mohammad Hassan Habibollahzadeh underlined the need for the removal of banking obstacles hindering the broadening of trade ties between the two countries.
Feb. 6 is the annual Sami National Day, and this year’s event marks the 100th anniversary of the date when Norwegian and Swedish Sami officials came together to hold the first Sami congress in Trondheim in 1917.