According to Iceland’s Ministry for Foreign Affairs, the current budget plan foresees a 25 percent cut to spending on third-world development projects next year, amounting to around a billion kronur (USD 7,936,510). The cut will reduce the proportion of Icelandic GDP spent on international development to 0.23 percent. The EU benchmark figure is 0.35 percent. Read the full story

The Norwegian government has decided to join the newest global body dedicated to promoting renewable energy. The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) has been created to fund and encourage green energy especially in developing countries, as well as the rest of the world. Read the full story

The government of Finland is getting ready to sign an agreement with Nepal over the development of sanitation, water supplies and micro-infrastructure to rural western areas of the country, according to The Himalayan Times.

The Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Project (RWSSP) is estimated to cost a total of €12 million, of which Finland may pledge as much as €9 million. The remaining 25 per cent of the project’s funds will come from the Nepalese government itself according to an officer from the development ministry.

Nine districts of Nepal are targeted to benefit from the sanitation scheme in the Dhawalagiri, Gandaki, Rapti and Lumbini zones.

In addition to supporting infrastructure, the project also works to build institutional capacity at the local level, increasing human resources and making the mobilisation of local resources more efficient.

The Finnish government is also supporting work on the Rural Village Water Resources Management Project in Far and Mid-Western Nepal, which is already in its first phase. Finland has contributed over 80 per cent of the costs to the project in order to improve the rural water supply, sanitation and irrigation to nine districts in hilly and mountainous areas.

Sunil Kumar Das, project coordinator, said that the development project will improve the sanitation facilities in 9,000 households in Nepal and benefit over 120,000 people.