President Niinistö to join UN Women's top global leaders' group
President of the Republic Sauli Niinistö has been invited to join the Champion World Leaders, an initiative of UN Women's HeForShe campaign. The group consists of about 30 Heads of State and Government, CEOs and university Presidents, who commit to promote gender equality and strengthen women's rights and opportunities.
"Gender equality benefits us all. It is a human rights issue and a prerequisite for sustainable development. It is in the interest of society as a whole that both women and men can realise their full potential," President Niinistö says when he joins the group on the International Women's Day, 8 March.
The Champion World Leaders initiative is a part of UN Women's HeForShe campaign, which aims to engage men and boys in the promotion of women's rights and fight for gender equality in their everyday life. President Niinistö joined the campaign in November. More than 200,000 people in different parts of the world participate in the campaign, about 2,000 of them are currently from Finland.
Gender equality and the promotion of women's and girls' rights are among Finland's foreign policy priorities and one of the cross-cutting objectives of Finland's development policy. Last year, Finland was UN Women's biggest donor: Finland contributed about EUR 26.5 million to the organisation's activities. The support strengthens the organisation's capacity to act globally in its efforts to promote gender equality.
Additional information: Marjaana Ettala, Desk Officer for UN Women matters, Ministry for Foreign Affairs, tel. +358 295 351 683, [email protected]