Norway Urges Malawi To Protect LGBTI+ Rights Amid Global PushbacK
Published on January 30, 2026 at 1:32 PM by Evance Kapito
The Norwegian Government has issued a forceful call for nations and development partners to safeguard LGBTI+ communities and ensure their full inclusion in Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) programs. The appeal highlights a growing concern over well-resourced global forces seeking to roll back progress on these fronts.
The call was made by Norwegian Deputy Minister of International Development, Stine Renate Håheim, during a high-level meeting in Oslo with representatives from the Malawi Government, international development partners, civil society, and SRHR advocates.
Deputy Minister Håheim acknowledged significant global advancements but warned of a potent threat. “There are now forces that are very strong, well-financed and well organized that want to push back this agenda,” she stated. She emphasized Norway’s unwavering commitment: “We will not let any vulnerable group behind, but will embrace them to be part of the development policies at any time.”
Linking inclusion to prosperity, Håheim argued, “Economic growth depends on using all the resources in the society… We cannot afford people not getting access to health care, and basic human rights and not being able to live their life being who they are and loving who they want.”
Addressing Norway’s broad development partnership with countries like Malawi, which includes food security and health, she found no conflict: “There is no contradiction helping the most vulnerable populations and ensuring that every human being get their basic human rights.”
The meeting brought the global challenge into sharp focus with the case of Malawi, where advocates face a difficult legal landscape. Gift Trapence, Executive Director of the Centre for the Development of People (Cedep), who represented Malawian civil society, called for the “review and repeal of criminal laws that perpetrate violence against LGBTI+ individuals.”
Trapence highlighted a critical contradiction: while national HIV policy mandates inclusion of key populations like LGBTI+ individuals, criminal laws persist. “As a country we have struggled with the protection of the rights of LGBTIQ+ persons from violence and access to justice,” he said, also stressing the need for healthcare providers to offer non-discriminatory services.
His remarks follow a significant judicial setback. In a June 2024 ruling, the High Court of Malawi sitting as the Constitutional Court upheld the criminalization of same-sex relationships, affirming the constitutionality of colonial-era penal code provisions.
The Oslo meeting underscores a mounting international effort to protect SRHR and LGBTI+ rights as fundamental to development, even as opposition consolidates and national legal battles intensify.
NPL
