Click the share button in the "take action box" to earn one point. You can also click the links in the text below to send a personal thank you message to the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Norway for their leadership. Remember: you have to be logged-in to Global Citizen to earn points. You can sign up using the link in the top menu.

In many parts of the world, a change of government by election is often followed with a scaling back in commitment to the world’s poor. The most shocking example of this was in Australia, where billions were ripped from its aid program following Tony Abbott’s election as Prime Minister last year. This is definitely not the case in Norway.

Late last year Erna Solberg led her conservative coalition to government. The previous Labour Government led by Jens Stoltenberg had been recognized as a leader in the international development space. Continuing this trend - and going against the global trend - the new Government has made it clear that it has no intention of abandoning Norway’s global leadership in the movement to end extreme poverty.

Significantly, Prime Minister Solberg’s government has committed to maintaining their aid spending at 1 percentage of their gross national income, solidifying Norway’s status as one of the most generous countries in the world. But they’ve also maintained their strong support for effective and efficient public-private partnerships, such as with the Global Partnership for Education (GPE). These groups do tremendous work in assisting children around the world in having healthier, educated, and hence prosperous, futures.

Prime Minister Solberg is known for her personal commitment to girls education; Norway recently pledged that it would be doubling its annual support to GPE from USD 47.5 million this year, to a remarkable USD 96.5 million by 2017. 

Following a trip through Africa with our CEO, Hugh Evans, last week, both Prime Minister Solberg and her Foreign Minister, Borge Brende, recognized that there still remains much work to be done. That's why over the coming months Global Citizens will work with Norway to galvanize other donors to show the same leadership in creating a world where children can survive and thrive.