NORMS IN NORWAY FOREIGN POLICY: COMBATING FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATING IN ETHIOPIA

The prevalence of female genital mutilation in Ethiopia has
concerned the Norwegian government to ensure that the practice
should be completely eradicated, as both Norway and Ethiopia has
established the bilateral relation since the end of World War II.
Several actions has been done by Norwegian government through its
foreign policy in order to eradicate the practice. Using theory of
constructivism and logic of appropriateness that explains the
behavior and involvement of Norwegian government on combating
female genital mutilation in Ethiopia, this study found that the norms
and values of gender equality and consciousness about right to life in
healthy condition evolving within Norwegian society’s environment
such as education, politics and government, civil society and
economy has brought the idea to its national identity in which
portray Norway as a “leading” country on issuing the gender and
rights issue to its foreign policy and to break the stereotype of what
is being called as “small state” is also can have huge influence at
international stage without using hard power such as military and
economic wealth, but rather use the soft power such as value
diplomacy as what Norway intended.