Hilde F. Johnson, Minister of International Development, Norway

Born: 29.08.1963, Arusha, Tanzania
Nationality: Norwegian
Present position: Minister of International Development of Norway, and member of the Norwegian Cabinet
Marital status: Single

Professional experience:

Political advisor to Mr. Kjell Magne Bondevik, party chairman and parliamentary leader for the Christian Democratic Party (1988-89 and in 1990-91, the latter as party chairman), to former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Kjell Magne Bondevik (during the coalition government of 1989 - 1990), and to the parliamentary leader for the Christian Democratic Party, Mr. Kåre Gjønnes (1990-91), in the Norwegian Parliament.

Executive officer in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Norway (1992-1993), Department of Resources, Section on Environment and Development.

Member of Parliament

1989 - 1993	Alternate member of Parliament for the Christian Democratic Party, Rogaland
1993 - 2001	Member of Parliament for the Christian Democratic Party.
1993 - 1997 & 2000 - 2001	Member of the Standing Committee on Energy and Environment in the Norwegian Parliament.

Cabinet minister

From 2001-	Minister of International Development of Norway, and member of the Norwegian Cabinet
1997 - 2000	Minister of International Development and Human Rights of Norway, and member of the Norwegian Cabinet.
1998 - 2000 & 2001	Chairman of the Sudan Committee within the IGAD Partners Forum, in support of the peace process between the Government of Sudan and the SPLA.
1999 - 2000 & 2001	Initiator and member of the socalled "Utstein 4", a group of likeminded development ministers (UK, NL, GER & NOR) for poverty reduction, Governors of the World Bank and/or members of the Development Committee of the WB. From 2002 and 2003 the group includes Sweden and Canada.

Academic background:

Social Anthropologist. Cand.polit. in Social Anthropology (1991), University of Oslo.
Examen Philosophicum, Høgskolen i Stavanger (HiS) (1982).
Cand.mag.-degree at the University of Oslo with basic and intermediary studies in History, Political Science and Social Anthropology (1982-85), additional studies in Anthropology at Selly Oak Colleges, Birmingham, U.K (1985).
Cand.polit.-degree (in Norway close to PhD) in Social Anthropology, University of Oslo (1986-91). Speciality in Development Anthropology, with fieldwork from Tanzania (1987/88), and the thesis on: "Dilemmas in Development, Forms of Peasant Resistance among the Fipa in Rukwa, Tanzania" (1991).
Some publications in Anthropology-related journals (1990-96)

Languages:

Fluent in English and Swahili
Knowledge of French
Knowledge of German

Other relevant experience:

Development & international responsibilities:

Member of the Senior/External Advisory Panel of the Asian Development Bank in the preparation of ADBs Long Term Strategic Framework 2001 - 2015 and after (2000-).
Member of the International Advisory Group of the World Bank Group on the Chad-Cameroon pipeline and related projects (2001)
Member of the Awarding Committee of the Thor Heyerdahl International Maritime Environmental Award (2000-).
Member of the Governing Council of SID, Society for International Development (2001).
Member of the Presiding Council of ProVention (1999), an International Consortium of the World Bank, several UN-agencies and private partners for preventive action in relation to natural catastrophies and calamities in poor countries.
Member of the council/board of various Norwegian NGOs:
Member of the Council of Pastor Strømmes Minnestiftelse (a development NGO) (1992-96), Member of the Committée for International Affairs of the Norwegian Church (1991 - 1997), Member of the council of the Norwegian Council for Southern Africa (1994 -1997), Member of the council of The Norwegian Helsinki Committee (1994-97), Member of the board of Norwegian Church Aid (a humanitarian relief and development NGO) (1996-97), Member of the board of the Norwegian Organization for Asylum Seekers (2000 - 2001).

Received the "2003 Commitment to Development Award" from Center for Global Development and Foreign Policy, as a member of the Utstein-group.

Journalism and information:

Member of the Board of TVE, Television Trust for the Environment, a TV-production company based in London, with focus on environment & development-issues (2000 - 2001).
Journalist in Stavanger Aftenblad, one of the biggest regional newspapers in Norway (1982), and in Folkets Framtid, a smaller, weekly party related newspaper (1987), both intermediate short term contracts.
Various editorial responsibilities within the Christian Democratic Party, editor of the youth magazine, Ny Veg (1984), and member of the editorial group of the journal, Idè (1986 - 1993).
Member of the board of MENTOR, an International Institute for media, communication and management, Norway (1988-92).
Other political responsibilities:
Various elected leading responsibilities in the youth league of the Christian Democratic Party (KrFU) (1979 - 85), locally and regionally in Stavanger/Rogaland (1979-82), centrally in the Central board of KrFU (1983-84), editor of "Ny Veg" (1984-85), and Vicepresident of the youth league KrFU (1986 - 1987).
In the Christian Democratic party: Member of the National Executive Board of the Christian Democratic Party on behalf of the Parliamentary Group (1993-1997).