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Non-profit

Norwegian Refugee Council

Website:

www.nrc.no/
Type:

Humanitarian Aid NGO
Founded:

1946
Secretary General:

Jan Egeland
Headquarters:

Prinsens Gate 2
Location:

Oslo, Norway

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The Norwegian Refugee Council is a humanitarian non-governmental organization founded in 1946. The organization prioritizes assisting refugees across the world and stated that it helped just under 10 million people across 35 countries in 2021. 1

It receives most of its revenue from contributions and grants from governmental organizations, private grantmaking foundations, corporations, and individual donors. 2 3

It has received grants from organizations such as the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, as well as individual donations from Mackenzie Scott, the ex-wife of Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos. 4 5 6

History

The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) is a Norwegian humanitarian non-governmental organization (NGO) established in 1946, under the name “Europahjelpen,” to fundraise and distribute aid to war-damaged countries in Europe after World War II. 7

The organization continued to send aid to European countries affected by war in the 1950s, and continued after the Cold War began as well. The organization became the “Norwegian Refugee Council” in the winter of 1956 due to the Hungarian Revolution, which saw 1,500 Hungarian refugees flee to Norway. NRC’s focus became assisting refugees in Norway and around the world. 8

During the “World Refugee Year,” declared by the United Nations General Assembly in 1959, NRC led fundraising in Norway yielding approximately NOK 15 million (around $1.4 million) over the course of the year. 9

NRC led several major fundraising campaigns in the 1960s, and directed aid efforts to the Middle East, Asia, and Africa. The organization also began prioritizing “education for Palestinian refugees” during this time. 10

King Olav V of Norway became NRC’s royal patron in 1970. His daughter-in-law, then-Crown Princess Sonja, led NRC’s first television fundraiser in 1974, raising NOK 23 million (approximately $2.2 million) for the organization. 11

NRC, which was tasked with integrating refugees, switched its focus in 1982 after the Norwegian government took over the responsibility and began focusing on assisting refugees around the world. 12 According to NRC, the organization has assisted just under 10 million people across 35 countries in 2021. 13 14

Following the terrorist attacks committed by Hamas against Israel on October 7, 2023, the NRC released a statement on the same day from its Palestine Country director Ana Povrzenic, claiming, “The only path towards stability and peace is for the international community to finally address the root causes of the conflict including ending the occupation of Palestinian territory.” 15 On October 13, Jan Egeland, the NRC’s Secretary General, released a statement claiming the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) was issuing an “ultimatum” to citizens within northern Gaza to relocate from the area, while also claiming that such actions, “would amount to the war crime of forcible transfer.” 16 On December 5, Egeland issued another statement demanding all hostages be released as well as an, “immediate ceasefire in Israel and Gaza.” 17 In addition, Egeland claimed the conflict in Gaza, “ranks amongst the worst assaults on any civilian population in our time and age.” 18

Funding

The Norwegian Refugee Council receives donations from both government and private foundations. It received NOK 5.4 billion (approximately $525 million) in 2020, and NOK 5.6 billion (around $544 million) in 2021. The organization’s expenses amounted to approximately NOK 5.3 billion ($515 million) in 2020, and around NOK 5.5 billion ($535 million) in 2021. 19

According to NRC, the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs donated 18.5 percent of its total income for 2021, while the European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations donated 13 percent, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees donated 8.9 percent, Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency donated 7.9 percent, and the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs donated 5 percent. 20

The organization also notes other donors including Dubai Cares, the German Federal Foreign Office, Global Affairs Canada, the United Nations Children’s Fund, U.S. Agency for International Development, and the World Bank. 21

The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation (also known as the MacArthur Foundation) granted NRC $280,000 in 2013 and $80,000 in 2016. The MacArthur Foundation is a left-of-center private grantmaking foundation which, since 2015, has focused its grantmaking on what it calls “Big Bets”—program areas that include climate change, criminal justice reform, and nuclear non-proliferation. 22 23

The Norwegian Refugee Council USA, the United States representation office of NRC, has received several million from private foundations since its inception in 2016.

The organization received $9 million from the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation in 2022 to support “two-generation youth livelihoods and early childhood development programming in Colombia, Ecuador, and Uganda.” 24 25

The Norwegian Refugee Council USA also received $350,000 from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (Gates Foundation) in May 2020. 26

Ukraine Relief

Formerly known as MacKenzie Bezos, she is recognized as the third-wealthiest woman in the world after a divorce settlement left her with an estimated $37 billion. 27

MacKenzie Scott, the ex-wife of Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos, and her then-second husband, Dan Jewett, donated $3.9 billion in grants to 465 organizations, including several that provide aid for the Ukraine crisis, between June 2021 and March 2022. Although it was not revealed how much it received, NRC was named a recipient of a grant focused on “Ukraine relief efforts.” 28 29

NRC’s Ukraine humanitarian cash assistance program is closed as of April 2023; however, the organization states that it assisted 239,561 people in Ukraine in 2021. The organization’s 2020 budget for Ukraine was $4.7 million. 30

References

  1. “Our impact.” Accessed April 4, 2023. https://www.nrc.no/who-we-are/our-impact/.
  2. [1] “Partners and donors.” Accessed April 4, 2023. https://www.nrc.no/who-we-are/our-donors/.
  3. “Corporate partnerships.” Accessed April 4, 2023. https://www.nrc.no/who-we-are/corporate-partnerships/
  4. “Norwegian Refugee Council.” MacArthur Foundation. Accessed April 4, 2023. https://www.macfound.org/grantee/norwegian-refugee-council-31476/.
  5. “Conrad N. Hilton Foundation Awards more than $175 million from April through September.” Hilton Foundation. December 21, 2022. Accessed April 4, 2023. https://www.hiltonfoundation.org/news/conrad-n-hilton-foundation-awards-more-than-175-million-from-april-through-september.
  6. Scott, MacKenzie. “Helping Any of Us Can Help Us All.” Medium. March 23, 2022. Accessed April 4, 2023. https://mackenzie-scott.medium.com/helping-any-of-us-can-help-us-all-f4c7487818d9.
  7. “75 Years Of Helping People Forced To Flee.” Accessed April 4, 2023. https://www.nrc.no/shorthand/stories/75-years-of-helping-people-forced-to-flee/index.html.
  8. “75 Years Of Helping People Forced To Flee.” Accessed April 4, 2023. https://www.nrc.no/shorthand/stories/75-years-of-helping-people-forced-to-flee/index.html.
  9. “75 Years Of Helping People Forced To Flee.” Accessed April 4, 2023. https://www.nrc.no/shorthand/stories/75-years-of-helping-people-forced-to-flee/index.html
  10. “75 Years Of Helping People Forced To Flee.” Accessed April 4, 2023. https://www.nrc.no/shorthand/stories/75-years-of-helping-people-forced-to-flee/index.html
  11. “75 Years Of Helping People Forced To Flee.” Accessed April 4, 2023. https://www.nrc.no/shorthand/stories/75-years-of-helping-people-forced-to-flee/index.html.
  12. “75 Years Of Helping People Forced To Flee.” Accessed April 4, 2023. https://www.nrc.no/shorthand/stories/75-years-of-helping-people-forced-to-flee/index.html
  13. “Our impact.” Accessed April 4, 2023. https://www.nrc.no/who-we-are/our-impact/.
  14. “75 Years Of Helping People Forced To Flee.” Accessed April 4, 2023. https://www.nrc.no/shorthand/stories/75-years-of-helping-people-forced-to-flee/index.html.
  15. “Israel-Gaza: civilians must be protected in unprecedented violence.” Norwegian Refugee Council, October 7, 2023. https://www.nrc.no/news/2023/october/israel-gaza-escalation/
  16. “Israeli ultimatum to Gaza must be reversed.” Norwegian Refugee Council, October 13, 2023. https://www.nrc.no/news/2023/october/xxxx/
  18. “Civilian deaths in Gaza are a stain on Israel and its allies.” Norwegian Refugee Council, December 5, 2023. https://www.nrc.no/news/2024/december/gaza-statement-december/
  19. Berdahl, Heidi. May 25, 2022. Accessed April 4, 2023. https://www.nrc.no/globalassets/pdf/annual-accounts/2021/annual-accounts-2021.pdf
  20. “Finances.” Accessed April 4, 2023. https://www.nrc.no/who-we-are/finances/.
  21. “Partners and donors.” Accessed April 4, 2023. https://www.nrc.no/who-we-are/our-donors/.
  22. “Norwegian Refugee Council.” MacArthur Foundation. Accessed April 4, 2023. https://www.macfound.org/grantee/norwegian-refugee-council-31476/.
  23. “About our Big Bets.” MacArthur Foundation. Accessed April 4, 2023. https://www.macfound.org/pages/about-our-big-bets.
  24. “Conrad N. Hilton Foundation Awards more than $175 million from April through September.” Hilton Foundation. December 21, 2022. Accessed April 4, 2023. https://www.hiltonfoundation.org/news/conrad-n-hilton-foundation-awards-more-than-175-million-from-april-through-september.
  25. “Norwegian Refugee Council Awarded Conrad Hilton Humanitarian Prize.” Sons of Norway. Accessed April 4, 2023. https://www.sofn.com/blog/norwegian-refugee-council-awarded-conrad-hilton-humanitarian-prize/.
  26. “Norwegian Refugee Council USA.” Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. May 4, 2020. Accessed April 4, 2023. https://www.gatesfoundation.org/about/committed-grants/2020/05/inv006047.
  27. “Jeff Bezos.” October 22, 2021. Accessed April 4, 2023. https://www.biography.com/business-leaders/jeff-bezos.
  28. Scott, MacKenzie. “Helping Any of Us Can Help Us All.” Medium. March 23, 2022. Accessed April 4, 2023. https://mackenzie-scott.medium.com/helping-any-of-us-can-help-us-all-f4c7487818d9.
  29.  Beasley, Stephanie. “As MacKenzie Scott donates $3.9B, one grantee expresses ambivalence.” Devex. March 23, 2022. Accessed April 4, 2023. https://www.devex.com/news/as-mackenzie-scott-donates-3-9b-one-grantee-expresses-ambivalence-102921.
  30. “NRC in Ukraine.” Accessed April 4, 2023. https://www.nrc.no/countries/europe/ukraine/.
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