07.01.10
Norway's Whole-of-Government Approach and its Engagement with Afghanistan
NUPI-rapport | Oslo, NUPI | 52 sider
Norway has been a prominent supporter of the UN’s Integrated Approach and has actively contributed to the development of NATO’s Comprehensive Approach. Norway’s own whole-of-government approach has, however, been limited to its engagement with Afghanistan. There is already a growing body of literature on the whole-of-government approach. Surprisingly little has been written about Norway in this context. This report represents a first attempt at comprehensively explaining the Norwegian whole-of-government approach, as well as and analyzing its effectiveness to date.
The authors of the report conclude that Norway lacks a comprehensive strategy for engaging in fragile states in general, as well as a whole-of-government strategy for any particular country, including Afghanistan.
A Publication in the NUPI Series on Security in Practice. Security in Practice no. 8 - 2009.
>> Summary
Norway has been a prominent supporter of the UN’s Integrated Approach and has actively contributed to the development of NATO’s Comprehensive Approach. Norway’s own whole-of-government approach has, however, been limited to its engagement with Afghanistan. There is already a growing body of literature on the whole-of-government approach. Surprisingly little has been written about Norway in this context. This report represents a first attempt at comprehensively explaining the Norwegian whole-of-government approach, as well as and analyzing its effectiveness to date.
In order to establish the basis for a comparative analysis, the first part of the report provides a brief introduction to the history of the whole-of- government approach. Amongst others, the report features short discussions of the approaches followed by Canada, the Netherlands, Sweden and the United Kingdom. The second part of the report examines Norway’s whole-of-government approach within the Norwegian foreign and defence policy contexts. The report then explains the Norwegian approach as it applies to Afghanistan in general, and to the Norwegian Provincial Reconstruction Team in particular. The third part is a comparative analysis of the Norwegian approach, where the strengths and weaknesses of the Norwegian model is considered by contrasting it against some of the other country experiences introduced in part one.
The rationale for a national whole-of-government approach is greater effectiveness. It is driven by the assumption that a government’s foreign engagements will have a more meaningful and sustainable impact when the various government departments involved pursue a common strategy, have a shared understanding of the problem, a common theory of change, and an agreed plan for implementing such a strategy. We have found that Norway lacks a comprehensive strategy for engaging in fragile states in general, as well as a whole-of-government strategy for any particular country, including Afghanistan. The report recommends that Norway consider adopting a law, or high-level policy document, that make it a requirement for Norway to have a national whole-of-government policy towards every country where it is engaged in initiatives related to peacekeeping, peacebuilding or conflict resolution.
The report recommends that such Norwegian whole-of-government strategies be limited to the higher strategic level. This will provide space for operational and tactical flexibility so that the Norwegian government can pursue coherence with local and international strategic frameworks, while also remaining flexible to changes in the situation on the ground.
The report express concern about the negative effects a Norwegian whole-of-government approach might have on the special relationship between the Norwegian government and Norwegian civil society. The report recommends that a forum be established where Norwegian civil society and government can regularly engage each other on issues related to the country’s international engagements, and its whole-of-government approach.
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