The Oslo Centre for Peace and Human Rights, or simply Oslo Center, is a nongovernmental organization founded by former Norwegian prime minister Kjell Magne Bondevik in January 2006. The purpose of the center is to work for world peace, human rights and inter-religious tolerance worldwide. The center cooperates closely with the Carter Center in Atlanta, the Kim Dae Jung Library in Seoul and the Crisis Management Initiative in Helsinki.[1]
Shortly after the announced opening of The Oslo Center, Bondevik told Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten, that the center would focus primarily on negotiations between governments and take on the role as a peace mediator in conflict areas around the world. He also said that the center would work closely with western governments and international human rights organizations and take advantage of the vast political networks that its members, all former politicians and bureaucrats, had built up over the years.[2]
The center has eight full time staff members, all of whom are former Norwegian politicians and bureaucrats, and three part time staff members. The Oslo Center is a non-profit organization and as a consequence relies solely upon donations from the general public. According to the official webpage, the center had enough funds from various Norwegian businesses and corporations in 2007 to keep it up and running for the following five years. The budget for 2007 was 10.5 million Norwegian krones.[3]