Latin American countries will soon be prevented for from receiving aid from Denmark under plans from the country’s new Development Aid Minister, the Liberal Party’s Soren Pind. Read the full story

Seven Finnish citizens had a narrow escape, as they only just avoided a suicide attack in Somaliland last week. Read the full story

Norway has announced its support for the discharge and rehabilitation process of Nepalese Maoist army personnel. Norway has recently been encouraged by the Nepalese government’s renewed commitment in conjunction with the United Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) to speed up the rehabilitation process, which is seen as crucial to establishing and maintaining security within the region. Read the full story

Despite President Robert Mugabe’s continued misrule of Zimbabwe, Norway has decided it will resume cash aid to the desperate African nation that it cut off back in 2000. Norway admits that Mugabe has brought little more than “years of misrule, embezzlement and hyperinflation” to Zimbabwe, but the nation is set to receive NOK 58 million from the Norwegian government. Read the full story

Norway’s government has voted to forgive 90 percent of the debt Liberia owes it, in a move designed to help the country keep up the pace of positive change achieved in recent years. This amounts to USD 35 million, with the remaining 10 percent to be placed under a more manageable repayment plan. Read the full story

Norway’s government has voted to send NOK 30 million worth of humanitarian relief to Gaza in the wake of Israeli attacks on the region. Norway’s Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere stated: “We are extremely concerned about the precarious humanitarian situation in Gaza.” He added that it is essential to guarantee the aid actually reaches those in Gaza who need it. Read the full story

Last week, the Department of Foreign Affairs announced that the government of Norway would increase the amount of emergency aid it would send to Burma to assist with victims of Cyclone Nargis.

The total amount of aid the government will send in is NOK 50 million. Initially, the government pledged just NOK 10 million immediately after hearing reports of the devastation in Burma, but new reports have caused Norway to increase that amount.

Norway will be distributing its donation through Norwegian, Burmese and international organisations, as well as through the United Nations and their relief efforts.

“We fear that the catastrophe is increasing due to sickness and lack of food,” said Minister of International Development, Erik Solheim.

Tropical Cyclone Nargis struck the coast of Burma on 2nd May, resulting in catastrophic destruction. The cyclone is now the deadliest natural disaster recorded in the history of the country, resulting in more deaths than the 2004 tsunami. The actual death toll is difficult to determine as reports vary from some 30,000 deaths to numbers well over 100,000. Tens of thousands of people are still missing and photographs from aerial surveillance show rice fields destroyed and littered with the bodies of the dead.

Relief has been slow to reach the people most affected in the country for political reasons. Burma is a military dictatorship fiercely opposed by U.S. President George W. Bush. The United States has pledged a total of USD 16 million in assistance to the country and has urged neighbouring countries to help assist.

The district administration block in Kalangala islands in Uganda will benefit from a sh 1 billion (USD 600,000) investment from the Icelandic International Development Agency according to reports in the Kampala New Vision. The current administration block is run down and the office buildings are dilapidated.

District engineer Novert Baliremwa, said that surveys of the building are nearing completion. Baliremwa said that construction is scheduled to start in July and will most likely take two years to complete.

According to Baliremwa, the Icelandic funds will go toward the construction of modern offices for the sub-counties of Mazinga and Bubeke.

Skuli Helgason, the vice chairman of the Icelandic International Development Agency’s board of directors said that the Icelandic funds would pay for the first phase of development for the new office buildings.

The Development Co-operation between Uganda and Iceland first started in 2000. For the most part, the two countries cooperate in the areas of fisheries, energy and social development. In addition to the donation for the office development, Iceland also supports several feasibility studies for geothermal prospects in western Uganda.

ICEIDA also supports projects in Nicaragua, Sri Lanka, Malawi, Mozambique, and Namibia. In 2007, there were 13 ICEIDA employees working in Uganda, four of whom were Icelanders.

Norway pledged nearly USD 490 million to Sudan in aid this week according to reports by Reuters. The Norwegian government expressed its hope that other countries would step forward and also contribute to Sudan.

Raymond Johansen, the Deputy Foreign Minister for Norway, attended a three day donor conference on the issue and said: “The Norwegian government has decided to allocate 2.5 billion kroner (USD 487.3 million) over the next four years which I think is substantial.”

The Oslo conference took place from 5th to 7th May, during which Sudan asked donor countries for a total of USD 6 billion for the period from 2008 to 2011. The Sudanese government described the decades of civil war experienced in the country and the strong need to rebuild.

“I also hope this (Norway’s contribution) will encourage other states both to follow up on their previous obligations and come up with new pledges,” Johansen said.

Currently funds to Sudan are disbursed through the Multi-Donor Trust Fund administered by the World Bank; however Johansen suggested that a faster mechanism be put in place for future donations and disbursements.