The Minister of International Development is a councillor of state and the chief of the international development portfolio of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Norway. The ministry was responsible for the foreign service, the country's international interests and foreign policy. Most of the ministry's portfolio is subordinate to the Minister of Foreign Affairs. The prime operating agency for international development is the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation. The position has been held by ten people representing five parties.

The Council of State is a formal body composed of the most senior government ministers chosen by the Prime Minister, and functions as the collective decision-making organ constituting the executive branch of the Kingdom. The council simultaneously plays the role of privy council as well as government Cabinet.