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.
Feasibility Study on possible Norwegian support for Defence Sector Reform in the Republic of South Sudan
This mission was a feasibility study to see if/how Norway can support defence sector reform in RSS; specifically, to explore possible capacity building of RSS Ministry of Defence (MoD) through direct institutional engagement for Norway MoD.
Reform of the security sector, including the defence sector, is recognised by the Government of South Sudan and the international community as crucial for the consolidation of peace and development in the new state. Institutional development of the Ministry of Defence has been identified as a priority programme area in the conflict prevention and security sector pillar of the draft South Sudan Development Plan (2011–2013). This feasibility study will identify whether and how could Norway contribute to enabling the RSS MOD to be more effective and accountable and jointly strengthen Norway’s relationship with South Sudan.
Joint Norwegian Swedish SSR Assessment in Liberia
Norway and Sweden have requested ISSAT support to carry out an SSR Assessment in Liberia with a view to providing recommendations on how these two countries can best contribute to the SSR process in Liberia.
The assessment focused on two key aspects:
- Potential areas/sectors for Swedish/Norwegian support.
- Funding mechanism s in place that could potentially be used by Norway and Sweden to support Liberia’s SSR efforts.
To address these two issues, ISSAT considered the following sub-questions:
- What are the challenges and opportunities for SSR in the short term (2012-13), medium term (next 5 years) and long term (10-15 years)?
- To what extent are current donor engagements, including Norway’s and Sweden’s, addressing the above challenges and opportunities?
- How can additional support complement and strengthen ongoing initiatives?
- Are the funding mechanisms in place in Liberia efficient, and do the activities they support sufficiently address the Liberian people’s needs for access to security and justice?
- How can the joint collaboration between Norway and Sweden in SSR bring about synergies and maximize resources/results?