Council of Europe Secretary General, Thorbjørn Jagland, and the Norwegian State Secretary, Erik Lahnstein, signed an agreement earlier today in Oslo, which provides support to the organisation’s cooperation activities in Official Development Assistance recipient states (ODA), in the fields of human rights, rule of law and democracy.

The agreement, which covers the years 2011 to 2014, foresees an initial contribution of 2.6 million € ( 20 million NOK). Programmes and projects to be implemented under this agreement will be selected from the unfunded priority projects approved by the Committee of Ministers in the Council of Europe biennial programme and budget.

This is the first of a new type of multiannual framework agreements with predictable resources which enable better programming and implementation, and hence results. Currently only meant for ODA eligible states, the programme may also be extended to countries covered by the new Council of Europe Neighbourhood Policy.

ODA states

Norway and the Council of Europe

Reform of the Council of Europe