Norwegian Grants Portal (MFA) (NO0028)

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs' grants portal is published on the Ministry’s web page.
The grants portal provides an overview of all signed grant agreements by the Ministry
and Norad with planned or actual disbursements for 2013 and the coming four years.
The portal gives easy access to data in line with the principles and objectives of IATI.
The overview shows the countries in which the grants are to be used, the grant
recipients the Ministry and Norad have entered into agreements with, and the sectors
that are to receive funding. �4
In the portal, you can search for information by continent, country or region, priority
area (sector) or recipient. Detailed information about individual agreements is also
available. The overview is updated monthly.
This system also produces statistics for international use and ODA-approved assistance
(official development assistance) is reported asis to the OECD Development Assistance
Committee (DAC) on an annual basis

The data in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ grants portal at the Norwegian Government website complies with IATI, and is updated monthly.

17. Norwegian grants portal (MFA)

Commitment Text:

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs' grants portal is published on the Ministry’s web page. The grants portal provides an overview of all signed grant agreements by the Ministry and Norad with planned or actual disbursements for 2013 and the coming four years. The portal gives easy access to data in line with the principles and objectives of IATI. The overview shows the countries in which the grants are to be used, the grant recipients the Ministry and Norad have entered into agreements with, and the sectors that are to receive funding. […]

commitment description
The data in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs grants portal at the Norwegian Government website complies with IATI, and is updated monthly.

Responsible institution: Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Supporting institution(s): None

Start date: Ongoing           End date:  Ongoing

Editorial note: The text of the commitments was abridged for formatting reasons. For the full text of the commitment, please see http://bit.ly/1QlVIja.

Policy Aim

The Ministry of Foreign Affair’s (MFA) grants portal^{[Note 100: ”The Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Grants Portal,” Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, accessed September 8, 2016, http://udtilskudd.regjeringen.no/#/en/country?year=2016. ]} provides information on all grants provided by the ministry and the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation. Statistics here are used for reporting to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD) Development Assistance Committee, and their publication on a public portal is intended to increase access to information, public debate, and accountability in the allocation of funds for international cooperation.

Status

Mid-term: Complete

In the midterm report, the researcher found that the Norwegian grants portal complies with IATI standards and is updated on a monthly basis in fulfilment of the commitment. This commitment was complete at the mid-term. For more information, please see IRM Progress Report 2013-2014.

Did it open government?

Access to information: Marginal

Compliance of this government website with IATI standards and monthly updating of data are positive steps towards increasing access to information. In addition, the improved user interface of the website makes relevant information very accessible to journalists or interested citizens. However, the investigative journalists consulted for this report, who reported on international aid, did not describe changes to the MFA’s grants portal as having significant impact on their ability to access information. This was to some degree because they did not see the information posted there as relevant to their work.^{[Note 101: Guro Slettemark (Executive Director, Transparency International Norway), interview by Christopher Wilson, in-person meeting, Offices of the International Law and Policy Institute, March, September 2016; Stian Slotterøy Johnsen (General Secretary, Norwegian Association of Voluntary Organizations), interview by Christopher Wilson, phone interview, September 13, 2016; and Nils Øy (Special Adviser, Norwegian Press Association), interview by Christopher Wilson, in-person meeting, Offices of the Norwegian Association of the Press, September 1, 2016.]} Nevertheless, the IRM researcher believes that usability improvements are significant enough to represent an increase in access to information, especially for non-expert users. This justifies categorizing this commitment as having a marginal impact on access to information.

Carried forward?

This commitment has not been carried forward in the Norwegian government’s third national action plan, which is available on the OGP website.^{[Note 102: ”Norway’s third action plan Open Government Partnership (OGP),” Ministry of Local Government and Modernisation, accessed September 4, 2016, http://www.opengovpartnership.org/wp-content/uploads/2001/01/Norway_2016-17_NAP.pdf.]}