This is the Knowledge Bank

More than twenty Norwegian government entities form part of the Knowledge Bank. Their technical expertise, as well as their experience from public administration in Norway is the most important “capital” of the Knowledge Bank.  

The Norwegian institutions engage in long-term cooperation (“twinning”) with government entities that have comparable functions and mandates in Norwegian partner countries. The partners exchange knowledge and develop solutions together, with the aim of strengthening the competencies and capacity of the public institutions to deliver on their mandates. 

The Knowledge Bank focuses on thematic areas, where Norwegian public sector institutions have technical expertise and relevant experience that are in demand in developing countries. It is organised in sector-specific programmes, each programme covering institutional collaboration in several countries.  

In addition to the Norwegian public sector institutions, other agencies, such as multilateral, private sector or civil society organisations often take part in the programmes to supplement the contributions from Norwegian government institutions.  

The thematic programmes cover several of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. All programmes also contribute to SDGs 16 and 17, in particular the targets 16.6; “Develop effective, accountable and transparent institutions at all levels”, and 17.9; “Enhance international support for implementing effective and targeted capacity building in developing countries to support national plans to implement all the sustainable development goals”.