Grete Faremo

Grete Faremo   (politician)
Born	16 June 1955
Nationality	Norwegian
Alma mater	University of Oslo
Parents	Osmund Faremo
Member of	Trilateral Commission
Party	Norwegian Labour Party
Well-networked Norwegian Trilateral Commission Labour Party politician.  Executive Director of the United Nations Office for Project Services In office August 2014 - 8 May 2022  Norway/Minister of Justice In office November 2011 - October 2013  Norway/Minister of Defence In office October 2009 - November 2011  Norway/Minister of International Development In office November 1990 - September 1992  Norway/Minister of Petroleum and Energy In office October 1996 - December 1996

Grete Faremo is a former Norwegian politician, lawyer and business leader. From 2014 to 2022, she held the post of Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS).

Background

Grete Faremo's early political philosophy was strongly influenced by her father, who was a prisoner of war during the Second World War, after being arrested as part of Hitler's Nacht und Nebel directive.

Her father was Osmund Faremo (1921-1999) was a Norwegian politician for the Labour Party. Osmund Faremo was a member of the council of the Norwegian branch of the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights from 1985 to 1988, and was active in the Norwegian branch of the European Movement, in the Norwegian Defence Association. He chaired the friendship association Friends of Israel in the Norwegian Labour Movement (Norwegian: Venner av Israel i Norsk Arbeiderbevegelse).

She studied law at the University of Oslo, specializing in international law and spent a summer in 1978 at The Hague Academy of International Law.

Business Career

She entered public service 1979, joining the Ministry of Finance as a Legal Officer. She then went on to work as a Legal Officer in the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (1980-1984). Following this, she was appointed Head of Division of the Ministry of Development and left in 1986 to take up a new position as Chief Negotiator at property management company. In 1990 she became a director in the Norwegian Labour Press (now known as Amedia) media group.

In 1997, Faremo became Executive Vice-President of Storebrand, a Norwegian financial services company. She left in 2004 to take on the role as Director of Law, Corporate Affairs and Public Relations at Microsoft Corporation's North Europe Office and later Western Europe Office, where she developed the legal and public affairs division responsible for corporate compliance in the region. She stepped down in 2008. She was also a partner at an independent consulting firm, Rådgiverne LOS AS, for short period in 2009, before she joined the Government.

Faremo has also sat on various advisory boards and associations throughout her career, including as a member of the Norwegian Press Council from 1998 to 2004, Chairman of Statnett SF (2000-2005), Chairman of the Norwegian People's Aid (2003-2007), Deputy Chairman of Forsvarets forskningsinstitutt (Defence Research) (2006-2009), Deputy Chairman of Norsk Hydro ASA (2006-2009), Board Member of COWI AS (2008-2009), Chairman of the Norwegian Health SF in 2009, the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra and the University of Bergen.

Political Career

On 3 November 1990, Faremo was appointed Minister of International Development as part of Gro Harlem Brundtland’s Third Cabinet. She held this post for two years before being promoted to Minister of Justice and Public Security in September 1992. The following year, in the 1993 Norwegian parliamentary elections, Faremo was elected to the Storting, representing the Oslo constituency. Before this, she was a member of the Oslo City Council from 1987 to 1991.

She continued as Justice Minister until the cabinet reshuffle in October 1996, where she was asked by newly appointed Prime Minister Thorbjørn Jagland to take over the Petroleum and Energy portfolio. However, just two months after her appointment, Faremo was forced to resign from the cabinet following the Berge Furre affair, which had revealed that the Norwegian Police Security Service were illegally spying on Socialist Left Party politician, Berge Furre, while he was a member of the Lund Commission – a parliamentary group appointed to investigate allegations of illegal surveillance of Norwegian citizens. The surveillance of Furre took place at the same time that Faremo was Justice Minister. She therefore was selected to take political responsibility for the scandal. Faremo resigned from the cabinet on 18 December 1996, but continued in her role as a Member of the Norwegian Parliament until the following general election in 1997 when she did not seek re-election.

Return to government as Minister of Defence

After working in the private sector for 12 years, Faremo returned to Norwegian politics when she was appointed Minister of Defence under Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg’s Second Cabinet. During her time as Defence Minister, she headed the preparation of a new long-term plan for Norwegian defence, which formed the basis for the new Air Force organization, including the purchase of new F35 fighter jets from Lockheed Martin.

Minister of Justice following the 2011 Norway attacks

Facing mounting pressure in the aftermath of the 2011 Norway Anders Behring-Breivik attacks over the state of the police and security, the incumbent Justice Minister, Knut Storberget, announced his resignation. Faremo took over the Ministry on 11 November 2011, tasked with strengthening the Norwegian emergency system. This involved the establishment of a new structure, new communication systems, and clear chains of command for crisis management and communications. A thorough analysis of the police, commissioned by Faremo, formed the basis for reforms in the Norwegian police structure.

Faremo lost her position as Minister of Justice following the 2013 Norwegian parliamentary election in which her coalition lost.

Executive Director of United Nations Office for Project Services

On 7 May 2014, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced the appointment of Faremo as the Under-Secretary-General and new Executive Director of the UNOPS.

During her first year, UNOPS continued to grow its services and continued its work with a range of international partners, including with the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in Syria, where UNOPS plays an important role in supporting the verification and monitoring activities of the OPCW (including suporting false false attacks see: Douma).

UNOPS has also worked closely with the UN Mission for Ebola Emergency Response, the World Health Organization, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and the Governments of Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia to address the needs of communities and health workers affected by the Ebola Virus Disease, as part of larger recovery efforts in the region.

In June 2015, Faremo travelled to Honduras where UNOPS signed a new agreement with the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (BCIE). The new agreement will see UNOPS and the BCIE work closely together to increase the ability of Central American countries to effectively design, implement and manage public projects as well as public-private partnership initiatives.

 

Event Participated in

Event	Start	End	Location(s)	Description
Munich Security Conference/2010	5 February 2010	7 February 2010	Munich Bavaria Germany	An anti-war demonstration outside described it as "Nothing more than a media-effectively staged war propaganda event, which this year had the purpose of justifying the NATO troop increase in Afghanistan and glorifying the continuation of the war as a contribution to peace and stability."

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