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Escaping conflict requires a broad mix of activities targeting peacebuilding, state building, reconciliation processes and community recovery efforts. As a result, NIS believes there are multiple ways to support communities and institutions in transitioning away from conflict. Our projects include constructing, rehabilitating and installing economic and community infrastructure such as solar streetlights, stadiums and markets, roads, government buildings, solar electrification to hospitals, health clinics and government buildings. In addition, NIS works with creating vocational training facilities and curricula, managing secondees to government institutions and managing grant-making programmes supporting peace-building and social cohesion. For NIS, the exact nature of a project is secondary to its ability to help a country emerge from conflict. NIS has been certified as a great workplace! Great Place to Work® Institute Norway has documented this through a comprehensive survey of NIS employees’ experience of trust, pride and camaraderie at the workplace. Read more about Great Place to Work and the certification here: https://www.greatplacetowork.no/. PSF Mercy Corps coaching and mentoring workshop Mandalay. Photo by NIS. Solar street lights being installed in Gao Mali 2016. Photo by NIS. Solar street lights equipment about to be transported on the Niger River to Bourem and Bamba Mali. Photo by NIS. TS Briefing on JPF December 2016 Women in tea shop Chin State. Photo by NIS. Working with women in Kayah State. Photo by NIS. Electrification Project in Luuq, Somalia. Photo by NIS. Cobble stone in Baidoa, Somalia. Photo by NIS. Football United’s ‘playing football, learning peace’ event in Kawkareik, Karen State, Myanmar (Paung Sie Facility). Photo by NIS.. Nightlife in Gao after the installation of solar street lights. Mali 2018. Photo by NIS. Nightlife in Gao after the installation of solar street lights. Mali 2018. Photo by NIS. PSF CDA DNH champions training Loikaw 2017. Photo by NIS. PSF Mercy Corps coaching and mentoring workshop Mandalay. Photo by NIS. Solar street lights being installed in Gao Mali 2016. Photo by NIS. Solar street lights equipment about to be transported on the Niger River to Bourem and Bamba Mali. Photo by NIS. TS Briefing on JPF December 2016 Women in tea shop Chin State. Photo by NIS. Working with women in Kayah State. Photo by NIS. Electrification Project in Luuq, Somalia. Photo by NIS. Cobble stone in Baidoa, Somalia. Photo by NIS. Football United’s ‘playing football, learning peace’ event in Kawkareik, Karen State, Myanmar (Paung Sie Facility). Photo by NIS.. Nightlife in Gao after the installation of solar street lights. Mali 2018. Photo by NIS. Nightlife in Gao after the installation of solar street lights. Mali 2018. Photo by NIS. PSF CDA DNH champions training Loikaw 2017. Photo by NIS. Although NIS is a Norwegian non-profit foundation, it has developed extensive partnerships with other bilateral and multilateral donors since being founded in 2011. As of 2022, NIS received funding from 12 different donors for programmes across three countries. As a result, support from non-Norwegian partners as a percentage of total funding has steadily increased, reaching 70% in 2022. NIS believes that a diverse donor base is an important indicator of an organisation’s transparency and effectiveness in carrying out its stated mission. *NIS’ project in Norway, Hva nå? Endringslaben, benefits from the support of various public and private sector donors. For more information about project donors and collaboration partners, please visit https://endringslaben.no/ SOME EXAMPLES OF NIS’ PROJECTS SOMALIA * Cobblestone project, Baidoa (Youtube) * BBC on solar street lights project in Mogadishu: * Mogadishu’s first solar-powered street lamps (BBC) * Streetlights bring normality to Mogadishu (BBC) * Mogadishu streetlights ‘have changed our lives’ (Youtube) * Somalia NGO Consortium: Stabilisation projects in Barawe, Somalia (p.11) * Vocational training center, Mogadishu (VOA NEWS) MALI * Solar street lights project in Gao, Mali (Les voix du Monde) NIS’ partners have access to further facts and figures about our completed and ongoing projects on our Interface. Current and previous annual reports can be found here. HOW WE OPERATE NIS projects seek first and foremost to support communities and institutions to recover from the negative effects of conflict, regardless of the type of intervention. NIS works with international donors, national governments, community leaders, national civil society groups and other key stakeholders to support processes that facilitate recovery from conflict through a variety of means: improving public service delivery, rehabilitating social and economic infrastructure, supporting the functional recovery of national institutions, designing programmes that target gender and social inclusivity, and managing grant-making bodies that support peace-building and strengthening social cohesion. Across these many types of projects, we continually emphasise the need to delivery concrete benefits to conflicted-affected communities: infrastructure must support increased community activities of all kinds; grants must support relevant actors with strong local relationships; and support to institutions must help boost their ability to deliver on their mandates. In order to ensure our projects are relevant in both the practical and political dimensions of our work, NIS lays a great deal of emphasis on continuous contact with stakeholders, carrying out extensive community engagements tailored for the given context. > …the exact nature of a project is secondary to its ability to help a country > emerge from conflict NIS PROVE PRINCIPLES 2.0 In 2014, NIS first developed the PROVE principles to help guide our project design and field operations. The PROVE principles helped to address what we saw as the greatest obstacles to effective policies and interventions in conflict-affected environments. PROVE stands for: Political, Relevant, Opportune, Verified and Expedited. Following on nearly six years of implementation experience, the PROVE Principles have been updated to better reflect what we believe need to be the guiding themes for our work into the future. The PROVE Principles 2.0 recognise a broader range of issues that can contribute to helping conflict-affected countries meet the challenges of transitioning towards longer-term development and greater social, economic and political resilience. PROVE 2.0 stands for: Politically attuned, Restorative, On-demand, Value-adding and Expedited. A major challenge that often continues to plague the sector is the failure to appreciate the need for urgent action in unstable environments: populations not only suffer from an absence of essential needs, but often also from a lack of trust in their governments, fellow community members and international donors and implementers. A project conceived of under the PROVE Principles 2.0 observes the following criteria: * Politically attuned — projects must be designed and managed in a way that incorporates the complex politics often present in conflict-affected environments. Genuine political understanding not only relates to local politics, but also the politics of the region, global considerations, as well as inter-donor politics and how donor missions interact with their capitals. Only through acknowledging these multiple dimensions can programmes be implemented in a Conflict Sensitive manner and avoid causing potential harm. * Restorative — projects must help to restore the functioning of key societal elements such as economic activity, social interaction, public service provision, a safe security environment and social trust. * On-demand — projects must provide benefits that cater to the most immediate needs demanded by project beneficiaries, including better security, improved economic and community infrastructure, increased livelihoods, capacity-building and greater social inclusiveness. * Value-adding — projects must be designed to add-value in an operational context. This can mean complimenting and boosting the effectiveness of existing projects, furthering discussions of difficult issues or challenging the status quo, including project themes, locations, technologies or types of intervention. * Expedited — projects must be implemented quickly and with minimal time lag between initial discussions and actual project implementation, as windows of opportunity are unpredictable and most conflict-affected communities have expectations that have long been waiting to be fulfilled. Responsive and timely implementation builds the trust, momentum and optimism necessary for projects to succeed, regardless of a project’s main objectives. For NIS, the PROVE Principles 2.0 will better ensure our work is helping governments and communities to build the momentum necessary to escape the pull of conflict that often keep countries mired in instability. There is often a heavy focus on humanitarian-style interventions in fragile environments, but these alone do not help to address the underlying causes of conflict or help build the institutions necessary to sustain a countries path towards long-term social and economic development and stability. Please click here to learn more about the NIS PROVE principles. × BRIEF NOTE ON NIS AND OUR PROVE PRINCIPLES INTRODUCTION The NIS foundation was started by individuals with experience working on the Horn of Africa in response to what was seen as a lack of donor policy and operational success, specifically in Somalia. From the beginning, the creation of NIS was driven by two main objectives: to assist countries and communities to successfully emerge from conflict, and to be pragmatic. In 2014, NIS first developed the PROVE Principles to help guide our project design and field operations (see Annex One below). The PROVE Principles helped to address what we saw as the greatest obstacles to effective policies and interventions in conflict-affected environments. The first iteration of PROVE stands for: Political, Relevant, Opportune, Verified and Expedited. These principles helped us to ensure that our projects were seeking first and foremost to support the strengthening of weakened and/or nascent national institutions following years of conflict. Early experiences and observations in Somalia, Mali, South Sudan and elsewhere, demonstrated that few projects in these conflict-affected environments were being carried out in ways that sought to boost support for the authorities among the population, and thereby to begin the long, painful journey of rebuilding state institutions. Very often, the case with weak regimes is that large sums of money are channelled through international NGOs, UN agencies and others with little or no requirement that they operate with and complement the government institutions that are required to attain sustained peace. In countries where national institutions have been long absent, have negative connotations or simply have very low capacity, the political significance of aid being delivered through the national government (be it real or perceived) cannot be underestimated. What NIS has witnessed in Somalia and Mali is two countries struggling to emerge from complex conflict; donors and donor funding lining up to support a peaceful transition, but programmes being inhibited by institutional protocols from engaging in imperfect and challenging political environments – and in most cases defaulting to funding NGO and humanitarian interventions that exclude government participation. As a result, populations harbouring very high expectations of new peace agreements or new governments are almost always left disappointed. APPROPRIATE PHASING AND PRIORITISATION IN ENVIRONMENTS WITH WEAK NATIONAL INSTITUTIONS REMAINS A POLICY CHALLENGE In countries such as Somalia and Mali, conventional longer-term development policies and objectives are sometimes over-emphasised at the expense of a focus on short-term confidence building. Time and again we witness the donors' failure to acknowledge that weak governments in unstable environments must demonstrate rapid results to build goodwill. The need to build and sustain momentum around reconciliation processes and state reconstruction efforts is essential to ultimate political stability and economic recovery. To help build this momentum in conflict-affected environments, donors must be quick, flexible, creative and well-informed, as must implementers. Programming must be multifaceted and seek to weaken the drivers of conflict wherever possible using a broad range of interventions which target the full spectrum of challenges from the simplest to the most complex, simultaneously. If governments cannot create trust, they find themselves without the essential legitimacy needed to conduct 'normal' governmental functions. And this trust can only be earned by concrete demonstrations of good intent. POST-CONFLICT ENVIRONMENTS SHOULD BE TREATED DIFFERENTLY The field of psychology offers an interesting example for the field of development in an area aptly called, Stabilisation1. In psychology, the term stabilisation refers to a phase of treatment that precedes more standard and longer-term treatment for victims of trauma. Psychologists have discovered that if trauma victims are subjected to more standard treatment practices without first being properly stabilised, there is a significant risk of worsening the patient's condition. The guidelines for stabilisation in psychology are different than the guidelines for standard treatment practices, in recognition of the specific needs of the patient during the critical early phase of their care. In psychological stabilisation literature emphasis is placed on establishing safety and trust. Without this foundation, a therapist will be unable to move the patient towards standard treatments. The same logic can be applied to the context of state instability: if governments cannot create trust, they find themselves without the essential legitimacy needed to conduct 'normal' governmental functions. And this trust can only be earned by concrete demonstrations of good intent. Donors, likewise, need to recognise the importance of the psychological dimension of post-conflict recovery. If trust is not created, conventional development remedies will lack a stable platform for success. EVOLUTION TO PROVE PRINCIPLES 2.0 NIS firmly believes that the PROVE Principles developed in 2014 (PROVE 1.0) serve as a useful guide for designing projects in countries just emerging from large scale conflict with weak national institutions and the most complex of security environments. However, following six years of implementation experience, NIS is now carrying out a wide range of projects all aimed at helping countries emerge from conflict in a variety of ways. Over this period, we have learned much about the importance of generating momentum across a broad spectrum of stakeholders to help a country escape the pull of conflict. This experience had demonstrated the importance of working across multiple sectors simultaneously to create a broad-based momentum towards peace. This includes supporting formal peace processes, programming focussing on social cohesion and reconciliation between communities, a more targeted approach to gender equality and social inclusivity across programming and seeking ways to improve the futures of unemployed youth, which are often exploited by groups to further support violent agendas. Only through such a multifaceted approach can a country hope to transition away from conflict and towards peace and development. These experiences are now reflected in our updated version of the PROVE Principles 2.0 to better reflect what we believe needs to be the guiding themes for our work into the future. The PROVE Principles 2.0 recognise a broader range of tools that can contribute to helping conflict-affected countries meet the challenges of transitioning towards longer-term development and greater social, economic and political resilience. PROVE 2.0 stands for: Politically attuned, Restorative, On-demand, Value-adding and Expedited. A major challenge that often continues to plague the sector regardless of programme type, is the failure to appreciate the need for urgent action in unstable environments: populations not only suffer from an absence of essential needs, but often also from a lack of trust in their governments, fellow community members and international donors and implementers. A project conceived of under the PROVE Principles 2.0 observes the following criteria: * Politically attuned — projects must be designed and managed in a way that incorporates the complex politics often present in conflict-affected environments. Genuine political understanding not only relates to local politics, but also the politics of the region, global considerations, as well as inter-donor politics and how donor missions interact with their capitals. Only through acknowledging these multiple dimensions can programmes be implemented in a Conflict Sensitive manner and avoid causing potential harm. * Restorative — projects must help to restore the functioning of key societal elements such as economic activity, social interaction, public service provision, a safe security environment and social trust. * On-demand — projects must provide benefits that cater to the most immediate needs demanded by project beneficiaries, including better security, improved economic and community infrastructure, increased livelihoods, capacity-building and greater social inclusiveness. * Value-adding — projects must be designed to add-value in an operational context. This can mean complimenting and boosting the effectiveness of existing projects, furthering discussions of difficult issues or challenging the status quo, including project themes, locations, technologies or types of intervention. * Expedited — projects must be implemented quickly and with minimal time lag between initial discussions and actual project implementation, as windows of opportunity are unpredictable and most conflict-affected communities have expectations that have long been waiting to be fulfilled. Responsive and timely implementation builds the trust, momentum and optimism necessary for projects to succeed, regardless of a project's main objectives. ANNEX ONE NIS PROVE PRINCIPLES 1.0 PROVE 1.0. stands for: Political, Relevant, Opportune, Verified and Expedited. The principles are an attempt to address what we see as the greatest obstacles to effective policies and interventions in fragile states and areas of political instability The need for urgent action in these fragile environments cannot be overstated: populations not only suffer from an absence of essential needs, but also from a lack of faith that their governments can provide them. A project conceived of under the PROVE principles would need to observe the following criteria: * Political — the project must be implemented in close cooperation with the authorities in ways that boost their legitimacy and political reputation among the population; * Relevant — projects must provide benefits that cater to the most immediate needs of the people, including security, basic amenities/infrastructure, and livelihoods; * Opportune — in terms of timing, partners and location, projects should be implemented in ways that respond to and counter a loss of trust in the ability of the state to meet essential needs that provide maximum strategic stabilisation benefits; * Verified — projects must meet a genuine need of the local population, and thus must be verified with the local community and authorities; and * Expedited — once identified and verified, projects must be implemented quickly and with minimal time lag between initial discussions and actual project implementation. If we accept these criteria, it is easy to see why humanitarian and more traditional development policies often fail to address the challenge of political instability in fragile environments. When examining possibilities for interventions in fragile environments, conventional concerns about sustainability, equality, and representation need to be considered in the specific context of what the overall political objective should be, and with an understanding that the pursuit of design perfection is often the enemy of relevance and impact. APPLYING PROVE PRINCIPLES DURING PEACE/RECONCILIATION PROCESSES Peace talks and reconciliation processes are a key aspect of international diplomacy, especially today when conflicts are characterised by multiple parties and often non-state actors. In many cases reconciliation processes will be taking place in the context of extended conflict, spanning sometimes decades and affecting multiple generations. During discussions with organisations specialising in reconciliation and conflict resolution, it has become clear that these processes are very much focused on the conversations taking place around the negotiating table. An essential part of any reconciliation process is that the general population has faith that the process will result in a change for the better. In order to combat this lack of faith in the given reconciliation process, parties involved and international supporters must recognise that conversations taking place around the negotiating table are an abstraction for the majority of average citizens. In many conflict-affected countries, populations are often suffering from a kind of "faith fatigue" where it is difficult to believe that yet another process will actually achieve anything. The question arises: How do you sustain people's faith in a peace process while it is ongoing, especially after extended conflicts and multiple failed earlier peace talks? One potential answer is the inclusion of a "PROVE track" for any peace and reconciliation talks. This track would seek to ensure that what is happening at the negotiating table is translated into tangible, concrete evidence down to the village level that something substantive is happening. Process-linked projects would be intentionally simple, easily understood and must not have been possible without the consent and cooperation of the parties to the negotiations. Projects that could have taken place regardless of reconciliation efforts would fail to achieve the political objective of creating a PROVE track. Generating some kind of trust among the people in the peace process goes a long way to generating legitimacy in the institutions that will emerge from the process. In addition, providing some kind of tangible evidence that the peace process is achieving something will make it more difficult for spoilers to mobilise support to disrupt the process. Projects should be identified by their political, geographic, economic or symbolic importance. In addition, the project must carry sufficient risks to be meaningful in terms of boosting faith during peace talks, but not so risky as to potentially derail the process if the project does not succeed. STABILISATION STARTS WITH THE BASICS A useful conceptual tool for ensuring that interventions in fragile environments deal with some of the most pressing practical and political needs is Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs2. At the international level there is in many cases a policy drift towards concerns and issues that are not immediately relevant to the most pressing needs in developing countries. Maslow's hierarchy rises from physiological needs to safety, social, esteem and self-actualisation. In the worst conflict-affected countries, clearly physiological and safety needs are generally the greatest, though physical and psychological needs do co-exist. Concrete confidence-building measures must address basic needs first as a way of working towards more psychological needs such as trust, legitimacy, expectations, identity, etc.. Meeting these basic needs is often left to NGOs and other international agencies to cater for with little or no involvement of the national government, thus denying the government an opportunity to boost legitimacy and provide evidence that this government is going to be different. Helping the authorities to assist in meeting these basic needs for the population is the most rational place to start building trust and legitimacy for a vulnerable regime. 1 In 2000, the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies adopted Judith Herman's Tri-Phasic Model as the Standard of Care for clinicians working with clients diagnosed with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. These three phases of treatment--(1) Safety and Stabilization; (2) Remembrance and Mourning (trauma memory processing) and (3) Reconnection. 2 https://www.edpsycinteractive.org/topics/conation/maslow.html NIS ORGANISATIONAL STAFFING APPROACH NIS’ staffing strategy means that we have highly skilled national and diaspora staff in-country that can effectively navigate the complex political, cultural and security landscapes that often characterise highly politicised environments. This allows NIS to understand the political nuances of complex environments and ensure the best chances for successful programme implementation. Furthermore, NIS’ approach to staffing ensures that the vast majority of staff resources are based in the field, supported by a service-focused HQ in Oslo. Presently, NIS has around 150 employees spread across its three programme countries, supported by an HQ staff of around ten. Working in conflict and post-conflict environments, we lay the utmost importance in conducting our work to the highest ethical standards. If you wish to raise a concern, please see our whistleblowing form. ETHICS, TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY NIS implements a large range of projects together with donors and key national stakeholders to assist countries and communities to successfully emerge from conflict. In order to succeed with our activities and goals in these complex and volatile environments and contribute to stability, security and social cohesion, we need to work along high ethical standards and keep the processes as transparent as possible. We are accountable to our donors, partners, and our colleagues, but most of all we need to stay accountable to the institutions, communities and people we look to support and interact with. Learn more about our Transparency process. WHERE WE OPERATE SOMALIA Following the fall of Siad Barre’s regime in 1991, Somalia descended into a state of continuous violent conflict, which has lasted for nearly 30 years. Initially, the fighting was between Clan-based militias and warlords, but these were swept aside by the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) in 2006. For most of 2006 the majority of south-central Somalia was controlled by the ICU, until they were removed by Ethiopian troops supporting the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) of Somalia by year’s end. In early 2007 the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) peacekeeping force was deployed to support the TFG and fight against the more radical wing of the ICU, al-Shabaab, which then evolved into the largest anti-government fighting force in the country over subsequent years. In August 2012, the first non-transitional government since 1991 was formed, The Federal Government of Somalia (FGS), following a long selection process involving Somalia’s different clans and the formation of a new Federal Parliament. NIS established its presence in the capital Mogadishu in early 2012, during the final months of the TFG. Following a series of successful offensives by AMISOM against al-Shabaab in south-central Somalia, NIS worked closely with local communities and government institutions to quickly expand into the newly liberated areas to deliver tangible improvements in service delivery to conflict-affected communities. As one of few organisations with a Memorandum of Understanding with AMISOM, NIS works with the authorities and community leaders to deliver rapid and relevant projects to the communities previously living under al-Shabaab. NIS’ first project in Somalia was the installation of solar-street lights along a key business road in the capital, Mogadishu. The immediate impact of the project on local residents and businesses was quickly recognised as evidence that non-emergency focussed stabilisation-style projects were possible in the country. This success saw NIS requested to install more streetlights in Mogadishu, but also to take on light infrastructure projects outside the capital in even higher-risk areas. Since 2012, NIS’ portfolio in Somalia has grown to over 80 projects, ranging from infrastructure projects such as roads, bridges, markets, stadiums, government buildings, solar electrification of hospitals and administration buildings and flood-defence, to managing the secondment of experts providing technical assistance to ministries, vocational training and sports programmes for youth and the design and implementation of a special financing facility to support the federal budget. All these projects have brought significant and concrete changes to the daily lives of many conflict-affected communities in Somalia. Combined, these different projects are helping to build the momentum necessary for Somalia to successfully transition out of conflict and towards social and political stability. Building momentum through a broad spectrum of interventions aimed at helping communities and state institutions recover from conflict helps keep up people’s hopes for change and discourages people from supporting anti-government forces. A key aspect of NIS’ work is the creation of platforms where the government can engage with the communities it serves to help restore the linkages and trust between government authorities, community leaders, and local populations. NIS has been able to document the positive effects these projects and community engagement activities have on peoples’ perception of government and the prospects for escaping conflict. NIS’ donor partners in Somalia have included the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the UK Stabilisation Unit, the UK Rapid Delivery Fund, the EU, the Somalia Stability Fund, the Conflict Security Stability Fund, the World Bank, FAO, GIZ, IOM and the multi-donor Energising Development partnership (EnDev). MALI In 2012, the occupation of northern Mali by Tuareg separatists and militant Islamists, compounded by a military coup, plunged the country into a state of unprecedented political, social and economic turmoil. The crisis revealed the fragility of Mali’s institutions. In 2013, NIS established itself in Mali with the overall objective of working with the Malian authorities and local communities in newly liberated areas of the country, helping to to respond to the needs and expectations of conflict-affected populations. The rapid delivery of tangible results helps facilitate communities’ transition away from conflict in the short term, buying time for the longer-term implementation of the government’s Poverty Reduction and Recovery strategy. Following consultations with local authorities and community representatives, NIS implemented its first project in Gao in northern Mali in 2014. The first project included 200 solar streetlights which illuminate public spaces, including schools, community centres, commercial districts, and water collection points, improving night-time security and enabling community-based activities to continue after sunset. This helps reduce crime and create a greater sense of social cohesion. Following this successful first project, NIS has continued with similar stabilisation efforts in northern and central Mali, installing a total of 554 solar streetlights in Gao, 144 in Bamba, Bourem, Tenenkou and Youwarou. NIS is currently working closely with the multi-donor initiative, Energising Development (EnDev) and national authorities on expanding its programme to include more poles, individual solar systems and help building agriculture infrastructures based on solar irrigation systems. “Gao sera la ville lumière du Nord” — Conseiller Communal Donor partners in Mali include the Norwegian MFA, MINUSMA and EnDev. NIS’ partners have access to further facts and figures about our completed and ongoing projects on our Interface. MYANMAR Myanmar has seen one of the world’s longest-lasting civil wars. The causes of conflict are numerous and intertwined. In 2011, the newly elected President Thein Sein, supported by chief peace envoy Minister U Aung Min, initiated a process of change towards peace. NIS has since the beginning of 2012 been involved with a number of key projects to support the peace process, which in turn will help stabilise the country. Prior to the military take-over in February 2021, NIS was working to support social cohesion and the peace process at local, regional and national level. As a result of political developments since February 2021, NIS programming inside the country has been paused and is currently under review. NORWAY In 2022, NIS started implementing its first project in Norway: Hva nå? Endringslaben. Hva nå? is a learning platform for children and youth, which aims to support and strengthen the work being carried out by Norwegian schools and teachers within the fields of sustainability and environmental education. The project is grounded in the Norwegian national curriculum (Kunnskapsløftet 2020), where sustainable development is identified as one of three cross-cutting topics. Hva nå? consists of a travelling exhibition which school classes are invited to visit, as well as in-class learning activities for use before and after the exhibition. Combined, they offer meaningful, inspiring opportunities for children and youth to learn more about environmental and social challenges being faced around the world today, and how they can be part of the solutions to overcoming these challenges. The exhibition is set up in local libraries across the country, and is also open to the general public. To date, NIS has implemented the project in seven different municipalities, reaching almost 4,000 students and 180 teachers. More information about the project is available here. WHO WE ARE NIS is a non-profit foundation headquartered in Oslo, Norway. NIS is registered in Norway with the Brønnøysund Register Centre and approved by the Norwegian Control Committee for Fundraising. NIS SENIOR MANAGEMENT NIS was started by individuals with experience working on the Horn of Africa in response to what was seen as a lack of politically attuned donor policies, specifically in Somalia, with too heavy a focus on humanitarian relief where little or no support was given to help rebuild government institutions and services. Eric Sevrin has almost 20 years’ experience working on humanitarian, political and human rights issues. Eric held different advisor and manager positions in the Norwegian Refugee Council for close to ten years, and was involved in the start-up of several country programmes. He has done extensive programmatic work on humanitarian crises and conflict countries, including Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia, Niger, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Uganda, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Colombia. Christopher Eads has close to 20 years’ experience working on political and economic development issues, mainly in East Africa and the Horn of Africa regions. Christopher was a senior country analyst in the Africa Department at the Economist Intelligence Unit for over ten years, as well as the deputy editor for the EIU’s World Commodity Forecasts. He has done extensive analysis work on conflict and post-conflict countries including Eritrea, Ethiopia, Liberia, Madagascar, Sierra Leone, Somalia and South Sudan. Please see the contact section for the contact details for our management team in Somalia and Mali. CONTACT HEADQUARTERS Oslo, Norway VISITING ADDRESS Brenneriveien 5 (2nd floor), 0182 Oslo POSTAL ADDRESS PO Box 9025 Grønland, 0133 Oslo TELEPHONE +47 21 39 60 37 E-MAIL post@nis-foundation.org TWITTER NIS_F CHRISTOPHER EADS Senior Partner ERIC SEVRIN Senior Partner PROGRAMMES KASSIM GABOWDUALE Country Representative, Somalia NOUHOUM GANABA Country Representative, Mali TUVA NERAAL VOLDEN Project Hva Nå? Endringslaben (Norway) If you wish to raise a concern, please see our whistleblowing form. If you have a safeguarding concern or question, please contact the NIS Oslo Safeguarding Focal Point through: safeguarding@nis-foundation.org. All messages will be treated with confidentiality. HQ Interface Login VACANCIES Vacant positions at the NIS headquarters in Oslo, Norway, are announced on this page, as well as in other relevant networks and career services. Vacant positions at NIS in other countries where NIS operates are usually announced publicly in national and/or international newspapers. Our current Programme and GESI Advisor is going on leave, and we are looking for an experienced Programme Coordinator to fill the position for a period of one year, from 1 September 2024 to 31 August 2025, please see the link for further information. Programme Coordinator NIS Oslo PROCUREMENTS Selected advertisements are posted on this page. ©2024 NIS-Foundation. All Rights Reserved. * Ansvarsbegrensning * Privacy Notice