The Norwegian government has announced that it will close its embassy in Uganda come 2024.
In a statement, the Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Anniken Huitfeldt, said the move is part of the government’s ongoing assessment of its foreign service to best safeguard its development policy priorities in line with available resources.
“In a rapidly changing world, it is essential for us to have diplomats in places where they can monitor global issues that have implications for Norway and promote Norwegian positions. At the same time, we must continually assess where it is best to maintain a presence in order to safeguard Norwegian interests optimally with the resources we have,” reads the statement in part.
The statement further reveals that Norway will have fewer, but more robust Foreign Service missions while more diplomatic staff will be posted to the Norwegian Embassies in Accra, Addis Ababa, Dar es Salaam, Kinshasa and Nairobi “in order to strengthen efforts in priority areas such as food security, business development and regional security in Africa.”
Norway has maintained a presence in Uganda since 1994, with the embassy in Kampala also overseeing Rwanda and Burundi.
“Uganda is a long-standing partner to Norway, and the excellent bilateral relations are highly valued. Norway wishes to maintain the strong ties that exist between the two countries,” the embassy said, stressing that development cooperation would remain unaffected.
“A substantial portion of today’s aid is already administered by the Norwegian development agency, Norad. Future cooperation will be managed by Norad and another mission in the region, yet to be determined,” the embassy explained.
Norway supports a variety of projects in Uganda, spanning education, health, agriculture and assistance to refugees.