Norway

More info here

Norges Fredslag joined GDAMS for one more year and shared its materials and IPB’s petition on social media.
“Reduksjon av militære utgifter vil frigjøre store ressurser til helsevesen, og samtidig gjøre oss bedre rusta til å møte klima- og humanitære kriser. Denne epidemien kan inspirere oss til å prioritere mennskeliv over opprustning”.
They also joined the Move The Money selfie campaign sending and sharing 4 pictures.

Norges Fredslag (Norwegian Peace Council) endorsed Global Days of Action on Military Spending (GDAMS), sharing the campaign materials and analyzing the newly released data by SIPRI. Read more here.

Selfie campaign and preparation of a GDAMS action at a café in Kongsberg (held on May 4th). Fresh data on World Military Expenditure, SIPRI numbers and world arms flow, also seen in relation to the Kongsberg Group in the city that are working with defense and aerospace. The presentation was done by Alexander Harang, peace researcher and former President of the Norwegian Peace Association. The presentation was followed by an active dialogue with all the attending and a common GDAMS selfie action took place. Look at the selfies here!

A Norwegian GDAMS Report on World Military Expenditure and world arms flow: As all previous years since 2011, the Norwegian Peace Association has produced a GDAMS report. Also this year a report based on the SIPRI data and IISS data, on the World Military Expenditure and the world arms flow in 2017 was written and launched. Look at the cover here! – Read it here (in Norwegian) and in this webpage – Contact: Odilia Häussler Melbøe, Norwegian Peace Association.

GDAMS action at a library in Tønsberg. Fresh data on World Military Expenditure, and world arms flow was presented by Odilia Häussler Melbøe in the Norwegian Peace Association. The presentation was followed by an active dialogue with all the attending and a common GDAMS selfie action took place, arriving on the consensus of the importance of youth in peace work. Look at the photo here!

IKFF, the International League for peace and freedom arranged an action in relation to GDAMS 2018. It was a presentation of a book by Dag Hoel about weapon industry and problematising how it affected and sustained work for people living in his home community Raufoss in Norway. The arrangement was additionally a panel debate and opened for questions from the audience.

Grandmothers for Peace handed out GDAMS flyers in front of the Parliament in Oslo.

Meeting in the main Bergen library on 26th of April. The author of a book about Norwegian arms industry (Nammo) and export, Dag Hoel, will talk about his book, titled Peace is not the best, on the inside of the arms industry. WILPF will have an introduction, focused on GDAMS and disarmament, and after Hoels presentation, there will be a discussion, hopefully focused on possible solutions for disarmament. We will also hand out a leaflet called. Move the money!. Organized by Womens international League for Peace and Freedom, Bergen (contact: Åse Møller-Hansen).

April 28th
GDAMS lecture at Tromsø University by Fredrik Heldal, Director of the Norwegian Peace Association. In cooperation with Center for Peace Studies at Tromsø University.

April 27th
18:00pm: GDAMS Meeting at Kongsberg Town Hall. Fresh data on world military expenditures will be presented by Alexander Harang, President of the Norwegian Peace Association. The Art Project Annex will also present its work. We will have an open debate on Norway´s military expenditure, and the current political climate for further armaments.

April 26th
noon, 12:00
Grandmothers for Peace Action, disseminating GDAMS flyers in front of the Parliament. Click on this image to get a high-res version of the flyers:

Breakfast meeting with the media at the Peace house in Oslo 9th April with the title : “Excessive military spending. Why do we not talk about it? “

In the panel were from the media: Truls Lie, editor Ny Tid, Mari Skurdal, head of editorial team, Klassekampen and Truls Lie, editor Norwegian Le Monde Diplomatique.

Alexander Harang, Norges Fredsråd, Borghild Tønnessen-Krokan, Forum for Environment and Development and Ingeborg Breines, IPB, represented civil society.

Ny Tid presented the same day a feature article by Ingeborg Breines on why the media is not bringing more to the forefront the excessive military spending that hinders development and peace building and contributes to the warming of the planet.

Alexander Harang had made a fact sheet for the occasion showing recent developments in military costs. The Grandmothers for Peace made a GDAMS-flyer that they distributed outside the Parliament.

Organizers : The Norges Fredsråd/Norwegian Peace Council, Grandmothers for Peace International, International Peace Bureau, The Norwegian Peace Alliance, Changemakers, Doctors against Nuclear Weapons, Norway

The Nowegian Peace Council organised a seminar.

See the photos.

Norwegian Peace Council

GDAMS in Norway was organized for the second time by Norwegian Peace Council together with other organizations from the Peace House in Oslo. The Norwegian Peace Association, Grandmothers for Peace, No to Nuclear Weapon, Changemaker, Peace Brigades International, Conscience and Peace Tax Norway put all their efforts to organize a meaningful and important day. The event was consisted of two integral parts: an action in the city and a panel debate with experts. The action took place in front of parliament in Oslo which is the most visible venue in the city. Each organization had a stand where it could present its issues in relation to GDAMS. This year GDAMS was dedicated to one of the most important issues in Norwegian military policy – buying of the fighter plane F-35. We wanted to pay attention of the citizens to the problem of how our tax money is spent. Passersby have received a symbolic note of Norwegian currency Krone and they could decide how to spend their money; military spending or social needs? The voice of Norwegian citizens was strongly against military spending. People were indicating the need of important social issues: education, health service or investment in the public transport. The panel debate was an occasion to resolve potential doubts. The discussion was led by Hedda Langemyr, director of Norwegian Peace Council. Our main expert was John Berg – defense analyst who presented his last book “Kampflyene som bomber forsvarsevnen”. Alexander Harang from the Norwegian Peace Association presented report on military spending, what gave an overview about current situation. The audience actively took part in discussion afterwards.

Norwegian Fredsråd / Norwegian Peace Association / Changemaker

“On the occasion of the Global Day of Action on Military Spending, we held a seminar on military spending. It was an evening with several interesting features. The program began with Anne Marte Skaland from ICAN Norway, part of the international campaign to ban nuclear weapons, who spoke about the cost of nuclear weapons. Alexander Harang then launched his report “Arms Race in the South.” The report is the result of collaboration between the Norwegian Peace Association, SLUG, LAG and the Norwegian Council for Africa. Last on the agenda was a debate about Norwegian military spending and purchases of U.S. combat aircraft. The panel was made up of Cecilie Schatvet of the International Commission, Eric Power from Tekna, independent defense analyst John Berg and Parliament Politician for SV Hall Geir H. Langeland. Chair Halvor F. Tretvoll from Dagsavisen wanted answers on whether we actually need fighter aircraft in Norway, and if so whether Lockheed Martin is a sensible partner and not least the consequences of such a purchase. All in all it was a great accomplishment and celebration of this day. Attendance was good, and the audience engaged.”