Jon Lomøy is the Director of the Development Co-operation Directorate. He provides both strategic leadership and orientation to the directorate to shape policies that promote sustainable development in support of the Millennium Development Goals.
Lomøy, a Norwegian national, has devoted his professional career to development and has held senior positions at the Norwegian Agency for Development Co-operation (NORAD) headquarters. As Head of the Eastern Africa Division, and Deputy Director and Director of the Africa Department, he was responsible for the management of bilateral development cooperation with Africa and initiated a major reorganisation of the department to decentralise programmes and enhance work on general policy issues. From 1996 to 2000, as Ambassador of Norway to Zambia, he also managed bilateral development programmes, including education and governance.
Lomøy returned to NORAD from 2001 to 2004 as Director of the Southern Africa Department, where he implemented the first process of countrywide silent partnership with Sweden and Malawi. In 2004, he joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as Deputy Director General of the Department for Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East, where he was responsible for the overall management of the Norwegian bilateral assistance programme. During this period, he initiated the Oil for Development Programme and, with the World Bank, a review of multi-donor trust funds in post-conflict countries. From 2007, he was Ambassador of Norway to Tanzania, managing one of Norway's largest bilateral aid programmes, with a particular focus on translating global policy initiatives – such as climate change, UN reform and the Partnership for Reduced Maternal and Child Mortality – to country-level activities.