Gunn Marit HELGESEN, President of the Chamber of Regions and President of the Norwegian Association of Local and Regional authorities (KS) and Andreas KIEFER, Secretary General of the Congress, met a delegation from the Association visiting the Council of Europe (KS) on 18 March 2018 in Strasbourg, France. The delegation was composed of representatives of several municipalities in the Hedmark and Oppland regions. They discussed the main activities of the Congress, in particular the monitoring of the implementation of the Charter of Local Self-Government in all Council of Europe member states, as well as some thematic activities of the Congress such as the promotion of public ethics, citizen participation and human rights.

Norway is the largest contributor to Council of Europe co-operation programmes, providing almost 8 million € (2017) and the Norwegian Association of Local and Regional Authorities (KS) is an important actor in promoting democracy and human rights at local level in several member states of the Council of Europe, such as Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova.