Press releases of Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland

On 19 October, Administrator of the US Agency for International Development Samantha Power and Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Ville Skinnari announced their dedication to robust collaboration on efforts to advance economic productivity, gender equality and human rights in developing countries through inclusive digitalisation.

Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Ville Skinnari will visit the United States on 18–21 October.

Finland bears its responsibility as part of the climate finance pledge of the Paris Agreement. At the United Nations Climate Change Conference, Finland will announce support for adaptation measures in developing countries in particular. The COP26 United Nations Climate Change Conference will be held in Glasgow from 31 October to 12 November 2021.

EU foreign ministers will convene in Luxembourg on Monday 18 October. The main items on the agenda will be the EU’s Eastern Partnership, Ethiopia, the Persian Gulf and Nicaragua. Topical issues on the agenda will include Afghanistan, climate diplomacy, Tunisia and the Western Balkans.

The three-year term 2022-2024 is Finland’s first full membership in the Human Rights Council. Finland will continue its long-term work to promote universal human rights.

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs has appointed a working group to assess the need to amend the Act on the Making of Decisions Concerning the Provision of and Request for International Assistance (418/2017). The working group will prepare the necessary legislative amendments based on the lessons learned from the evacuation operation in Afghanistan.

Did you know that you have collaborated with people living in Nepal, Somalia and Kenya and thus supported girls’ schooling, journalists’ training and job creation? You may be surprised, but that is all right. Development cooperation produces effective results, but we Finns know quite little about them. On 11 October, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs will launch a campaign that will clarify the achievements of Finland’s development cooperation.

The Centre of Expertise, newly established under the Finnish National Agency for Education (EDUFI), will strengthen Finland’s role in resolving the global learning crisis. The Centre will facilitate the deployment of Finnish education sector expertise in development cooperation and support efforts to strengthen equitable and inclusive quality education in developing countries. At the same time, it will also facilitate the engagement of Finnish actors in the education sector in development cooperation assignments.

The 16th meeting of the Finnish-Russian Intergovernmental Commission for Economic Cooperation will be held in Helsinki on 14 October 2021. The Commission is co-chaired by Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Ville Skinnari and Russia’s Minister of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov. The meeting will address issues related to business environment in Finland and Russia, potential sectors of cooperation, and current topics of the Commission’s working groups. The ministers will also meet representatives of Finnish and Russian companies.

EU ministers of development will hold an informal video conference to exchange views on Afghanistan on Monday evening, 11 October. Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Ville Skinnari will represent Finland at the meeting.

President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development Gilbert F. Houngbo will visit Finland on 12 October, on the invitation of Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Ville Skinnari.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Haavisto will meet Rwanda’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Vincent Biruta in Helsinki on 6 October.

Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Ville Skinnari will visit France and Germany on 4–8 October 2021. In Paris, Minister Skinnari will attend the annual OECD Ministerial Council Meeting and meet key French ministers and business representatives. In Stuttgart, Skinnari will participate in the business forum on the future of the automotive industry. The programme includes meetings with key German companies, and decision-makers from the state of Baden-Württemberg.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto will visit Warsaw, Poland on 4–5 October. In Warsaw, Minister Haavisto will participate in an annual panel discussion on security and the strategic situation in Eastern Europe organised by the Warsaw Security Forum.

The Government proposes EUR 1.3 billion in appropriations for the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. The promotion of human rights, the rule of law, democracy, peace, freedom, tolerance and equality in all international activities forms the central element of the value base on which Finland’s foreign and security policy rests. The budget proposal lays special emphasis on measures that strengthen the network of Finland’s missions abroad and support the availability of labour, participation in international crisis management, conflict prevention and mediation, and development cooperation.

Finland is hosting a meeting of the Syrian Women’s Advisory Board (WAB) from 26 September to 1 October 2021.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto will visit Washington DC on 24 September. The aim of the visit is to strengthen the bilateral relations between the two countries and to discuss topical foreign policy themes, focusing on questions relating to Afghanistan and the Horn of Africa.

At its 65th General Conference, the International Atomic Energy Agency IAEA elected Finland to the IAEA Board of Governors for a two-year term from September 2021 to September 2023 with a possible extension for a third year.

The UN Food Systems Summit will be held virtually on 23 September during the UN General Assembly in New York. Finland’s representative at the meeting will be President of the Republic Sauli Niinistö. Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Ville Skinnari, in his role as the World Food Programme’s School Meals Champion, will speak at the event on school meals.

Minister Ville Skinnari will visit Lisbon on 21–24 September 2021. The aim of the visit is to strengthen the commercial relations between Finland and Portugal. Portugal offers significant opportunities for Finnish companies in such areas as bioeconomy and circular economy, energy, climate and digital transitions.