Attitudes towards Norwegian development aid, 2017

The results of the survey show high support for development aid in Norway. 87 per cent supports aid for Asia, Africa and Latin-America. This is an increase from the survey in 2013, but the support has been stable for a long period. Between eight and nine out of ten has supported aid for these countries in all surveys after 1990. The amount that supports aid to eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union is however lower. 64 per cent supports this kind of aid, which this is a slight decrease from 2013.

Slightly more than half the respondents think the foreign aid budget has the right size or should be bigger. Around three out of ten thinks it should be smaller or be eliminated. Younger persons and persons with higher education are most supportive of foreign aid and the size of the aid budget. The respondents were also asked what party they would have voted for if there was an election the next day, and Progress party voters were most critical of foreign aid.

Almost half the sample thinks the results of the foreign aid are quite or very good. One out of ten think they are quite or very bad. This is about the same evaluation of the aid results than we have seen in the 2013-survey, but more negative than the previous surveys. The respondents still believe that aid given by voluntarily organizations gives the best results.

About three out of ten thinks that Norad (The Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation) administers the aid funds efficiently, and 36 per cent thinks that they waste the aid money to a small degree. This is a slightly better result as in the 2013-survey, but compared to previous studies, less people now evaluate Norads work as effective.

The respondents were asked to name the aid organizations they knew. The Red Cross was by far the most well-known organization, and was mentioned by five out of ten persons. It was followed by the Norwegian Church Aid, Doctors without Borders and Save the Children which were mentioned by one out of four respondents. Norad were mentioned by 15 per cent.

Approximately one out of three said they were somewhat or very interested in matter about developing countries in the media, and around one in two was a bit interested. Three out of ten thought developing countries were portrayed correctly in the media. Just as many thought they were presented to negatively and 13 per cent thought they were presented too positively.

The respondents were asked if they knew any countries that Norway has development cooperation with. Two out of three respondents did not know of any countries with which Norway has development Cooperation.

The participants in the survey were also asked if they knew about the UN sustainable developmental goals. Half of the respondents did not know about these goals, while three out of ten had heard the name. Two out of ten had some knowledge.