News and press releases

Permanent State Secretary Jukka Salovaara will visit Geneva, Switzerland, from 25 to 26 February. He will deliver Finland’s address to a High-Level Segment of the 58th session of the UN Human Rights Council and to a High-Level Segment of the Conference on Disarmament.

During its membership of the UN Human Rights Council between 2022 and 2024, Finland defended universal human rights and the multilateral rules-based system. Finland’s key priorities were to ensure accountability and gender equality and to promote and defend the rights of women and girls, Indigenous Peoples, persons with disabilities and LGBTI persons.

Finland's membership of the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) comes to an end at the turn of the year. The three-year term from 2022 to 2024 coincided with a turning point in global politics, which was reflected in both the HRC agenda and Finland's priorities. For Finland, systematically defending the HRC's global mandate to promote and protect human rights has been a prime concern. The Ministry for Foreign Affairs invited civil society organisations to discuss the outcomes of Finland's membership, lessons learned, and Finland's future actions as an HRC observer.

The UN Member States adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Paris on 10 December seventy-six years ago. One of the UN's most influential statements, the declaration is a key element of the multilateral rules-based system, writes Finland's Minister for Foreign Affairs Elina Valtonen on International Human Rights Day.

This is the last time during its membership period 2022–2024 that Finland will participate as a Member in the regular session of the UN Human Rights Council. In accordance with established practice, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs invited the representatives of the civil society to exchange views on Finland’s objectives and priorities for the upcoming session. The Human Rights Council (HRC) is the UN’s most important intergovernmental body promoting and protecting human rights. The HRC’s 57th session started on 9 September and ends on 11 October.

The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) will hold its 57th session from 9 September to 11 October in Geneva, Switzerland.

The United Nations Human Rights Council will hold its 56th session in Geneva, Switzerland, from 18 June to 12 July.

Finland’s membership of the UN Human Rights Council continues until the end of 2024. This year, Ambassador Heidi Schroderus-Fox, Permanent Representative of Finland to the United Nations Office at Geneva, is serving as one of the Council’s Vice-Presidents. The President and Vice-Presidents are responsible for upholding the Council’s mandate to protect and promote human rights.

At the end of May, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs invited representatives of civil society organisations to comment on Finland’s participation in the 56th session of the UN Human Rights Council. The discussions focused on increasingly narrow civic space in countries such as Belarus, Uganda and Myanmar and on the rights of women and girls in the midst of war and crises.

The Advisory Board for International Human Rights (IONK) began a new term of office at the start of 2024. Appointed for 2024–2027, the IONK monitors the implementation of Finland's international human rights policy and may issue recommendations on it.