Giving Compass' Take:

• On Global Citizen, Norway’s minister of international development discusses how the country is dedicated to women's equity both inside and outside its borders, partnering with others to ensure health from birth for the world's most vulnerable citizens.

• How can we follow Norway's lead when it comes to health outreach in international development, using the Sustainable Development Goals as a target? What collaborations would work for the U.S.?

• Here's why the world needs more female leaders in health care.

Norway strongly supports equity and the empowerment of women as a path to national development. Women and girls are often the last to be served, their needs ignored. Lack of basic health and nutrition are some of the most egregious challenges faced by women, girls, and children.

Every day, over 800 women and girls die as a result of pregnancy or childbirth complications — 99% of whom live in the developing world. More than 100 million children are chronically malnourished and 131 million girls are out of school.

For these reasons, Norway focuses on the basics — working to ensure women, girls, and children can grow up healthy and access an education that will allow them to excel in society.

Norway is committed to allocating around 1% of its gross national income on official development assistance — which is more than most countries. But alone, we can only hope to make a small contribution to addressing these far-reaching inequalities. We therefore work through partnerships with international agencies, civil society, the private sector, and, most importantly, developing country governments and communities themselves.

As Norway’s minister of international development, I must think long and hard about where we choose to invest our citizens’ money. Achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030 is a priority for Norway and we are proud of our commitment to people’s welfare and the environment.

Read the full article about building a healthier future and the SDGs by Nikolai Astrup at Global Citizen.