Minister of International Development (Norway)

The Minister of International Development (Norwegian: Bistands- og utviklingsministeren) is a councillor of state and the chief of the international development portfolio of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Norway.[1] The ministry was responsible for the foreign service, the country's international interests and foreign policy. Most of the ministry's portfolio is subordinate to the Minister of Foreign Affairs.[2] The prime operating agency for international development is the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation.[3] The position has been held by ten people representing five parties.

Minister of International Development of Norway
Bistands- og utviklingsministeren
Incumbent
Anne Beathe Tvinnereim
since 14 October 2021
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Member ofCouncil of State
SeatVictoria Terrasse, Oslo
NominatorPrime Minister
AppointerMonarch
with approval of Parliament
Term lengthNo fixed length
Constituting instrumentConstitution of Norway
PrecursorMinister of Foreign Affairs
Formation8 June 1983 (re-established 17 January 2018)
First holderReidun Brusletten
Abolished16 October 2013
DeputyState secretaries at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
WebsiteOfficial website

The position was created with the appointment of Willoch's Second Cabinet on 8 June 1983,[4] with Reidun Brusletten of the Christian Democratic Party appointed the first minister.[5] From 1 January 1984 to 31 December 1989, the minister had their own ministry, the Ministry of Development Cooperation.[4] Eleven people from four parties had held the position, with Hilde Frafjord Johnson of the Christian Democratic Party being the only to have held it twice. Erik Solheim of the Socialist Left Party has sat the longest, for six and a half years. Solheim also acted as Minister of the Environment from 18 October 2007 to his retirement.[1] Heikki Holmås of the Socialist Left Party, who was appointed on 23 March 2012,[1] became the last Minister of International Development when Stoltenberg's Second Cabinet resigned on 16 October 2013. In Solberg's Cabinet, issues related to international development were transferred to the Minister of Foreign Affairs.[6] The position was re-established in 2018 after the Liberal Party joined the Solberg Cabinet.

Key

The following lists the minister, their party, date of assuming and leaving office, their tenure in years and days, and the cabinet they served in.

  Centre Party
  Christian Democratic Party
  Conservative Party
  Labour Party
  Socialist Left Party

Ministers

PhotoNamePartyTook officeLeft officeTenureCabinetRef
Reidun BruslettenChristian Democratic8 June 19839 May 19862 years, 335 daysWilloch II[5]
Vesla VetlesenLabour9 May 198613 June 19882 years, 35 daysBrundtland II[7]
Kirsti Kolle GrøndahlLabour13 June 198816 October 19891 year, 125 daysBrundtland II[7]
Tom VraalsenCentre16 October 19893 November 19901 year, 18 daysSyse[8]
Grete FaremoLabour3 November 19904 September 19921 year, 306 daysBrundtland III[9]
Kari Nordheim-LarsenLabour4 September 199217 October 19975 years, 43 daysBrundtland III
Jagland
[9][10]
Hilde Frafjord JohnsonChristian Democratic17 October 199717 March 20002 years, 152 daysBondevik I[11]
Anne Kristin SydnesLabour17 March 200019 October 20011 year, 216 daysStoltenberg I[12]
Hilde Frafjord JohnsonChristian Democratic19 October 200117 October 20053 years, 363 daysBondevik II[13]
Erik SolheimSocialist Left17 October 200523 March 20126 years, 158 daysStoltenberg II[1]
Heikki HolmåsSocialist Left23 March 201216 October 20131 year, 207 daysStoltenberg II[1]
Abolished between 2013 and 2018
Nikolai AstrupConservative17 January 201822 January 20191 year, 5 daysSolberg[14]
Dag Inge UlsteinChristian Democratic22 January 201914 October 20212 years, 265 daysSolberg[15]
Anne Beathe TvinnereimCentre14 October 2021present2 years, 270 daysStøre[16]

References