Policy Updates

On October 21, 2024, Japan announced an emergency grant of US$10 million in response to Lebanon’s worsening humanitarian situation.

This assistance will be delivered through organizations like UNHCR, WFP, UNICEF, IOM, and ICRC, focusing on essential needs such as shelter, food, water, and healthcare.

The funding will be allocated as:

• UNHCR: Shelter and non-food items (US$5 million);
• WFP: Food assistance (US$2 million);
• UNICEF: Water, sanitation, and hygiene (US$1 million);
• IOM: Site management and non-food items (US$1 million); and
• ICRC: Health and medical services (US$1 million).

Japan also called for restraint in the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, urging diplomatic efforts to avoid further escalation.

On October 16, 2024, the CGD published a data visualization tool and report outlining the upcoming multilateral replenishments.

Over 2024-2025, almost all the major multilateral concessional funds—including World Bank’s IDA, GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance; and the Global Fund —will seek to raise what could amount to over US$100 billion in grants from donors.

The CGD analysis outlined that since 2010, the core multilateral share of ODA has dropped from 23% to 18% percent in 2022. Instead, the largest donor governments are opting to channel ODA bilaterally. The CGD believes that this is largely due to growing skepticism of multilateralism and foreign assistance alongside inward-facing political priorities across advanced economies.

There are several pledging events scheduled before the end of the year: the Pandemic Fund in end October, WHO’s inaugural Investment Round in mid-November, and the World Bank’s IDA pledging meeting in early December. GAVI is also seeking to raise US$9 billion, though timing for its pledging conference is yet to be confirmed.

To combat this, the CGD has suggested that donors must make a clear-eyed assessment of the entire landscape of funds, and highlighted the need for ambitious—yet feasible—policy proposals to ensure a more effective and sustainable system that responds to the needs and priorities of low- and middle-income countries.

On October 14, 2024, during the World Health Summit in Berlin, Germany, Norway announced a pledge of approximately NOK1 billion (US$90 million) to the WHO for the period 2025-2028.

This contribution was announced during the WHO's first fundraising round for sustainable financing, which Norway co-hosted alongside Germany and France. The funds will support the WHO’s core activities, in addition to mandatory contributions and emergency relief efforts.

Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre emphasized the WHO's critical role in global health coordination, especially during crises like COVID-19 and the mpox outbreak, underlining the importance of strong health systems and international cooperation.

Norwegian Health Minister Jan Christian Vestre highlighted the cross-border nature of health challenges and the importance of the WHO's leadership in ensuring global access to up-to-date health information. The flexible funding from Norway is intended to enable the WHO to meet priorities set by its member states, as the majority of its current budget relies on voluntary, earmarked donations.

Norwegian Development Minister Anne Beathe Kristiansen Tvinnereim stressed that building resilient health systems takes time, and flexible funding ensures that the WHO can finance its key tasks, including responding to future pandemics.

On October 10 and 11, 2024, the G7's Health Ministerial Meeting took place in Ancona, Italy. The discussion focused on three overarching priorities: Global Health Architecture and Pandemic Preparedness and Response, healthy and active aging, and the One Health Approach.

The G7 Health Ministers Communiqué, released at the end of the meeting, highlights the G7's commitment to supporting SDG #3 through universal health coverage, primary health care, and sexual and reproductive health. This also includes maternal, neonatal, child, and adolescent health, strengthening the global health architecture by investing in PPR, promoting regional manufacturing of health products, and equitable access to quality health services.

The communiqué emphasized the health-related impacts of conflicts with a reference to the crises in Ukraine, Gaza, Lebanon, and Sudan. Furthermore, in the communiqué, the G7 Ministries committed to continue to support Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance and the Global Fund, whose replenishment processes will occur in the upcoming months.

The Civil 7 engagement group, a platform through which civil society can engage with the G7, reacted with a communiqué in which they expressed an appreciation for the re-commitment to ending HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria through robust support for the Global Fund in its replenishment next year. This support is crucial to ending the three epidemics as agreed upon in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Finally, the G7 Health Ministers also adopted a policy brief on the opportunities presented by AI for both healthcare providers and patients.

On October 9, 2024, Canada’s Minister of International Development Ahmed Hussen announced an additional CAD15 million (US$11 million) in funding for humanitarian assistance to address the urgent needs of civilians in Lebanon, as well as a public donation matching campaign up to a total of CAD6 million (US$4 million).

The funding will help leading Canadian and international organizations provide food, water, health and protection services, and other life-saving assistance. Additionally, Hussen announced that Canada allocated up to CAD6 million (US$4 million) in donations to the Canadian Red Cross’ Lebanon Humanitarian Needs Appeal and the Humanitarian Coalition’s Lebanon Emergency Appeal.

Each donation made from September 24 to November 3, 2024, will be matched to a maximum of CAD3 million (US$2 million) for each appeal.

On October 8, 2024, the EU took stock of the progress achieved on its international partnerships since it revamped its model of cooperation five years ago.

The EU's intentions have been to move away from donor-recipient dynamics and towards more mutually beneficial partnerships where both the partners' and Europe's resilience are reinforced. An integral part of this shift is Team Europe, which brings together the EU institutions, the Member States, the European DFIs with the European private sector, aiming to increase the scale, impact, and visibility of joint European action.

This approach has been the main delivery mechanism of the EU's Global Gateway investment strategy, which is expected to mobilize up to EUR300 billion (US$331 billion) in public and private investments by the year 2027. Between 2021-2023, EUR179 billion (US$197 billion) in investments have been already mobilized. EUR50 billion (US$55 billion) of these funds were supported by the EC.

Commissioner for International Partnerships Jutta Urpilainen positively reflected strong foundation of partnerships that were built during her mandate.

The communications highlighted achievements in the five priorities of the Global Gateway strategy:

• Climate and Energy: Mobilizing investments for climate resilience, access to clean energy and infrastructure, helping partner countries shift away from fossil fuels, supporting climate adaptation, supporting global food security, and creating opportunities for jobs and prosperity;
• Digital Transition: Supporting digital transition and deployment of connectivity and digital infrastructures, as well as digital skills. Additionally, allocating 10% of NDICI funding to digital actions;
• Transport: Investing in physical infrastructure to strengthen transport networks, as well as strengthening the regulatory environment;
• Health: Supporting the global fight against the COVID-19 pandemic (via ACT-A and COVAX, supporting global health initiatives like Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, the Global Fund to fight Tuberculosis and Malaria and the Pandemic Fund. Adopting a Global Health Strategy, strengthening health systems, supply chains, investing in local manufacturing; and
• Education and Research: Investing 13% of the development budget (2021-23) to education. Flagship initiatives focus on education for girls, teacher training, and vocational education.

Additionally, it underscored work on:

• Fragile countries: Addressing the root causes of fragility and supporting the basic needs and livelihoods of populations, along the Humanitarian-Development-Peace nexus. Launching an Integrated Approach to External Conflicts and Crises to see how to best approach fragile and conflict-affected contexts;
• Migration: Scaling up work to address root causes of migration by investing in partner countries’ migration management capabilities and signing migration partnerships in line with the Pact on Migration and Asylum. 10% of the international partnerships budget was earmarked for migration and forced displacement; and
• Multilateral engagement: Engaging with global institutions like the UN, the G7 and G20, and International Financial Institutions to shape global policies; and providing funding for international initiatives on global health, education, and equality.

On October 7, 2024, the EC's HERA delivered 5,420 doses of the mpox vaccine to Rwanda and is a proportion of the 215,000 doses donated to Africa CDC.

In addition to delivering vaccines, the EU and its Member States are also contributing to the WHO's global mpox plan and the African continental mpox plan, as well as supporting the Pandemic Fund.

The EU is the largest contributor to the Pandemic Fund with EUR427 million (US$472 million) committed. The Fund has allocated US$129 million for the 10 most mpox-affected countries, such as Rwanda. This funding will improve surveillance and detection of the mpox virus, enhance laboratory capacity, and train the emergency workforce.

On October 8, 2024, a conference was held in Kyiv to discuss the outcomes and lessons learned from two reproductive health projects in Ukraine, funded by the Japanese government.

The projects, implemented by WHFP (a member of IPPF), aimed to mitigate the impact of GBV and improve access to reproductive health services in regions affected by the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Key achievements of the projects include:

• Providing medical equipment, medicines, and post-rape care kits to 10 medical facilities;
• Delivering reproductive health services to over 1 million women and girls;
• Training 459 healthcare workers on managing rape cases and emergency obstetric care;
• Offering comprehensive sex education training to over 50 educators and counselors; and
• Organizing 70 youth events on reproductive health.

The conference highlighted Japan’s crucial role in supporting Ukraine’s healthcare system during the ongoing conflict, emphasizing the importance of reproductive health services for women, girls, and vulnerable populations.

On October 7, 2024, the Norwegian government presented its state budget for 2025, which includes an ODA budget of NOK52.9 billion (US$4.8 billion).

This amount remains largely consistent with the 2024 allocation, representing 0.92% of Norway's GNI, below the country’s longstanding target of 1%. Despite this, the government has reaffirmed its commitment to increasing ODA in future years, with the goal of eventually reaching the 1% target.

In presenting the budget, Norway’s Minister of International Development Anne Beathe Tvinnereim highlighted the importance of the 2025 allocations, emphasizing that the government is providing a robust budget designed to address critical global challenges. Beyond targeting immediate needs like poverty reduction and development, the budget also aims to foster trust and strengthen systems capable of addressing long-term challenges.

Key focus areas:

The 2025 development budget places particular emphasis on humanitarian assistance, climate action, business development, multilateral institutions, debt relief and refugee-related expenses in Norway (which will increase by 8%). However, certain areas will see reductions, including:

• A 22% cut in support for refugees outside of Norway.
• A 6% reduction in funding for peace efforts.
• A 3.9% decrease in civil society funding.

Despite some cuts, several areas will receive increased funding:

• Development assistance to Palestine will increase by NOK280 million (US$26 million).
• Humanitarian assistance will rise by NOK300 million (US$27 million).
• Climate adaptation and food security funding will grow by NOK380 million (US$35 million).

Crisis areas:

Ukraine remains Norway's top priority in light of the ongoing conflict with Russia. The Nansen Program for Ukraine will see a significant increase in funding, with the budget rising from NOK75 billion (US$6.8 billion) to NOK134.5 billion (US$12.3 billion). The program's duration has also been extended from 2027-2030.

The budget allocated substantial humanitarian assistance to Gaza, addressing the severe needs resulting from the ongoing conflict. Similarly, additional resources are directed towards Sudan, where escalating hunger and humanitarian crises are pressing concerns.

Global health:

Norway’s 2025 budget emphasizes global health cooperation and preparedness, with a focus on enhancing the world’s ability to prevent, detect, and respond to infectious disease threats and antimicrobial resistance. Key initiatives include:

• Preventing infectious diseases and reducing child and maternal mortality.
• Strengthening SRHR.
• Expanding UHC.
• Enhancing national healthcare systems, particularly in addressing climate-related health issues, such as the spread of infectious diseases.

While the allocation for health in 2025 stands at NOK3.6 billion (US$327 million), reflecting a NOK103 million (US$9 million) decrease from 2024, this aligns with the government’s prioritization of other areas like humanitarian assistance and climate adaptation. Norway remains committed to long-term global health partnerships, including a reallocated contribution of NOK20 million (US$2 million) to UNAIDS.

On October 7, 2024, Norwegian CSOs and political leaders expressed strong concerns about the government’s 2025 budget proposal on ODA.

Despite a slight increase in overall ODA spending, the government continues to fall short of the agreed 1% of GNI for ODA, which has drawn significant criticism from various quarters. The government plans to allocate NOK52.9 billion (US$4.8 billion) to ODA, which corresponds to 0.92% of GNI.

Lan Marie Berg from the Green Party criticized the government, stating, that Norway has profited from the war in Ukraine due to rising oil and gas revenues, and should contribute more to humanitarian efforts. Henriette Westhrin of Save the Children also expressed shock at the cuts, especially given the growing global crises.

Dagfinn Høybråten from Norwegian Church Aid and Hjalmar Bø of Digni pointed out that over NOK4 billion (US$343 million) of the budget is being used domestically for refugee reception, particularly for Ukrainians. They stated that this should not come at the expense of international development assistance meant for the world's poorest. Jan Egeland from the Norwegian Refugee Council echoes this sentiment, highlighting that the government's actions contradict its claims of international solidarity.

The SV and The Green Party strongly opposed the cuts, with SV's Kari Elisabeth Kaski calling them unworthy of a wealthy nation like Norway. Both parties emphasize that the reductions are coming when the world is facing severe humanitarian crises.

Dag-Inge Ulstein, from the Christian Democratic Party and former Minister of International Development, criticizes the budget for prioritizing domestic refugee costs over international development assistance. Ulstein also condemns the NOK150 million (US$13 million) cut to educational development assistance, arguing that it continues a trend that has seen over NOK1.1 billion (US$94 million) reduction in the funding to education since his tenure. He emphasized that these cuts could have been avoided if the government had met its own 1% development assistance target. This is also underlined by the Conservative Party, which says that Norway, previously a leader in education assistance, risks setting a negative example for other donor countries.

The Liberal Party noted the global refugee crisis and the need for greater international support. They also criticized the significant cut to education, pointing out that this leaves hundreds of thousands of children without access to schooling and opportunities for a better future. However, the party praises the increased funding for climate adaptation but argues that more could be done, particularly through mechanisms like the Climate Investment Fund.