The backdrop for the visit is Ethiopia’s position as a priority country within Norwegian international development policy and its role in questions relating to regional security, economic growth and the climate. By arranging meetings with the African Union at its headquarters in Addis Ababa and the UN, the visit also aims to focus on such issues of regional importance as peace and security, humanitarian questions and development in Africa. 

The committee’s top-level meetings with the African Union and the UN will focus on regional security issues, economic development and human rights, in particular women’s rights. The committee is also scheduled to meet other regional and international bodies of interest. The committee also raised the issue of human rights during the visit.

This was the first ever visit to Ethiopia by this particular committee. The trip was confirmation of the growing collaboration between Norway and Ethiopia. While there, the committee had meetings with the African Union and the UN. Items on the agenda included economic growth and development in Africa on the one hand and the serious conflicts and security issues on the other.

“Ethiopia has made huge social and economic advances over the past decade. The country also plays an important and constructive role regionally, not least in the conflicts in South Sudan and Somalia,” Anniken Huitfeldt (Labour Party), the Committee Chair, said. The committee also raised the issue of human rights during the visit.

During its four days in Ethiopia, the committee met a number of key figures within Ethiopian politics, including the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Minister of Environment and Forests, the Deputy Minister of Finance and Economic Development, and representatives from the political opposition. The committee also met the UN Resident Coordinator in Ethiopia and representatives from Norwegian voluntary organizations working in the country. The members were given an insight into Norway’s extensive commitments in Ethiopia, one of the Government’s 12 focus countries within the sphere of development. Norway’s aim is to support Ethiopia’s leadership in climate issues, in particular within the fields of forests, renewable energy and agriculture. The committee was also briefed on Norway’s contribution to capacity building in human rights, something of great interest in the committee’s ongoing work on the white paper on human rights.