News, 7.6.2012

An exhibition portraying Finnish peacekeeping visitable in the web

Peacekeeping Finland, an exhibition portraying Finnish peacekeeping was opened at the UN Headquarters in New York on 30 April 2012. The exhibition is visible for everyone in the internet.

Ever since Finland became a member of the United Nations, she has been committed to UN peacekeeping. Finland has a distinguished history of participation in numerous UN operations: in the Middle East, the Balkans, the Indian subcontinent and various regions of Africa. Some 50 000 Finnish men and women have served as peacekeepers since 1956.

The exhibition will portray the history of Finnish peacekeeping, civilian crisis management and mediation of peace from the very beginning in Suez until the present day by means of large illustrations on walls and videos. The exhibition also traces the history and highlights the importance of UN peacekeeping in general.

The following prominent figures were interviewed and they shared their views on current issues: former president Martti Ahtisaari; Major General Juha Kilpiä, Head of Mission of the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO); Dr Helena Ranta, an internationally renowned forensic expert; Brigadier General Jukka Savolainen, Head of the European Police Mission (EUPOL) in Afghanistan; Georg Charpentier, Deputy Special Representative of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL); and Pekka Haavisto, a member of the Finnish Parliament.

After New York the exhibition will be seen in Washington and after that in various embassies located in areas where Finnish peacekeepers are active. Some of the exhibition will be also seen in Finland at the official functions of the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry for Foreign Affairs.