News Archives

Elisabeth Rasmusson has been appointed Assistant Executive Director in the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP). Read more

The Norwegian Chair bases its priorities for the first half of 2013 on the conclusions of the EFTA Council meeting at Ministerial level in Geneva 12 November 2012. Read more

Read the Norwegian statements submitted prior to the review here !

• Norwegian Statements

Norway is currently one of 17 countries taking part in active discussions at the WTO in order to increase trade in IT products. The discussions aim at increasing the product coverage for products traded under the zero tariff IT Agreement. The IT Agreement, the ITA, is a 15 year old agreement between 70 Members of the WTO. Read more

Nine countries nominated candidates for the position of Director General of the WTO by the deadline 31 December 2012. These candidates will present themselves to the Members of the WTO in a meeting of the General Council 29, 30 and 31 January January. The meetings will be chaired by Norwegian Ambassador Elin Østebø Johansen in her capacity as Chair of the General Council. Read more

Nine countries nominated candidates for the position of Director General of the WTO by the deadline 31 December 2012. These candidates will present themselves to the Members of the WTO in a meeting of the General Council 29, 30 and 31 January January. The meetings will be chaired by Norwegian Ambassador Elin Østebø Johansen in her capacity as Chair of the General Council. Read more

The twelfth Meeting of the States Parties (12MSP) to the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention was held in Geneva 3-7 December 2012. Read more

IOM held its 101st council session in Geneva 27-30 November 2012. The Norwegian Permanent Mission to the UN in Geneva, The Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and The Norwegian Immigration Authorities participated in the session. The Norwegian statement may be found below. Read more

UNHCR held its 63rd Session of the Executive Committee of the High Commissioner's Programme in Geneva 1-5 October. State Secretary Gry Larsen submitted Norway's statement during the general debate.

• UNHCR 63rd Executive Committee - Budget statement

Around one thousand participants took part in the largest global discussion to date on how governments and businesses are moving to address the impacts of business activities on human rights, which...

• Forum on Business and Human Rights
• Norway is a front-runner of the business and human rights agenda

There is now an open-ended meeting of Member States on the follow-up of the Consultative Expert Working Group on Research and Development ( CEWG) report, on Research and Development. Financing and Coordination 26 – 28 November 2012. The Intervention by Ambassador Steffen Kongstad, Permanent Representative of Norway can be read here; Read more

Norway is one of the biggest contributors to the WTO development programmes. Overall, Norway’s contributions to the various WTO trust funds have reached about CHF 23.2 million. Read more

Norway is one of the biggest contributors to the WTO development programmes. Overall, Norway’s contributions to the various WTO trust funds have reached about CHF 23.2 million. Read more

How to tackle and combat hate speech online is the topic of a two-day conference in Budapest from Tuesday 27 November 2012. Read more

EFTA´s ministerial meeting took place in Geneva on 12 November. The Norwegian delegation was headed by State Secretary Roger Ingebrigtsen, Ministry of Trade and Industry. The Ministers discussed EFTA´s ongoing free trade negotiations, prospective partners and maintenance of existing free trade agreements. As a first step for closer trade relations with Pakistan, the EFTA states and Pakistan... Read more

On the 5th to 7th of November, Member States of WHO agreed on voluntary global targets for chronic non-communicable diseases. The negotiations in Geneva was led by Secretary General of the Norwegian Ministry of Health and Care Services, and Norwegian Board Member to the WHO, Dr. Bjørn-Inge Larsen. Read more

The World Meteorological Congress Extraordinary Session 2012 opened the 29th of October.The Agenda of the congress contain decisions on the implementation plan and governance model for the Global Framework for Climate Services(GFC). The ambassador of Norway, Steffen Kongstad held an opening statement. Read more

The 14th session of the Universal Periodic Review in the Human Rights Council takes place between the 22nd of October and the 5th of November 2012. 14 states had their human rights records examined.

• Norwegian Statements

The World Trade Organization (WTO) carries out regular reviews of member countries’ trade policies. For its review in October Norway received close to 300 written comments and specific questions from other WTO member countries. “Transparency is essential for ensuring greater predictability for all those involved in trade and economic activity across national borders. Norway actively supports th... Read more

The World Trade Organization (WTO) carries out regular reviews of member countries’ trade policies. For its review in October Norway received close to 300 written comments and specific questions from other WTO member countries. “Transparency is essential for ensuring greater predictability for all those involved in trade and economic activity across national borders. Norway actively supports th... Read more