Norway

The Ministry of Defence is a Government Office with responsibility for the formation and implementation of Norwegian security and defence policy. The Ministry is responsible for the overall management and control of the activities of subordinate agencies.

The essential task of theThe Ministry also works to promote peace and security, an international legal system, an economically just world order and sustainable development. Ministry of Foreign Affairs is to work for Norway’s interests internationally: to safeguard the country’s freedom, security and prosperity.

The Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad) is a directorate under the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA). Norad aims to be the centre of expertise for evaluation, quality assurance and dissemination of the results of Norwegian development cooperation. It will ensure that the goals of Norway's development policy are achieved by providing advice and support to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Norwegian foreign service missions. And it will administer the agency's grant schemes so that development assistance provided through Norwegian and international partners contributes effectively to poverty reduction.

With 50 years of experience, the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI) is Norway’s leading independent centre for research and information on international political and economic issues, and on areas of central relevance to Norwegian foreign policy. NUPI was established by the Norwegian Parliament in 1959. The institute is organised as a state body under the Ministry of Education and Research, but operates as an independent, non-political instance in all its professional activities.

The Police department and the Directorate of the Police constitues the central authority for the police. The Police department is administratively responsible for the Superior Prosecution Authority and the Military Disciplinary Authority.

The Police University College is the central educational institution for the police-and-sheriff’s department in Norway, and aims to be a professional-oriented educational institution on a high level which develops and imparts the knowledge, skills and attitudes that the police need in order to maintain safety, respect for the law and order, in addition to preventing/fighting crime. The aim of the Police University College is to secure recruitment to the police.

The Norwegian Police University College (Norwegian: Politihøgskolen; PHS) is a public university college located in Oslo, Kongsvinger, Stavern and Bodø, Norway. It offers education for the police force of Norway, including a three-year basic education and a possible expansion with a Master's degree. 720 students are accepted at the Bachelor level each year. The university college also conducts research in relevant areas including law, police science, criminology, psychology and sociology. Unlike other public colleges, it is owned by the Norwegian Ministry of Justice and the Police. The school dates back to the organized education of the police force in Oslo in 1889, but was created as a separate school in 1920. It was called The State Police School and had the status of etatsskole (agency school) until 1992, when it was organized as a university college. The campus at Mørkved in Bodø supplemented the one at Majorstuen in Oslo in 1997. It received a full accreditation as a university college (høgskole) in 2004 (from 1992 to 2004, it only had accreditation for its programmes, not a full institutional accreditation). In 2010 there was a total of 3220 applicants, 720 of whom were accepted. 35 per cent of the students accepted in 2010 were women. More than 1000 employees in the Police Service undergo further and continuing education at the university college each year.