Executive Director of the UN Office for Project Services to visit Finland

Grete Faremo, Executive Director of the United Nations Office for Project Services UNOPS, will visit Finland on 22 November.

Executive Director Grete Faremo will speak at Slush, where she will meet the Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Ville Skinnari. During her visit she will also meet Under-Secretary of State Elina Kalkku.

Cooperation between UNOPS and Finland has increased significantly this year. Now UNOPS is opening a development office in Helsinki as the base for the Social Impact Investing Initiative S3I. UNOPS is also going to move the management of its global innovation operations to Finland.

The Social Impact Investing Initiative (S3I) of UNOPS is a programme for promoting the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in developing countries. The focus of the S3I is on major infrastructure projects in three sectors: renewable energy, affordable housing, and health. It has the role of a project developer with the aim to make projects suitable for investment and, through this, to attract private investor finance.

UNOPS headquarters is located in Copenhagen. The organisation supports other UN specialised agencies with their development, humanitarian and peace operations. It offers its procurement expertise to developing countries and supports them in managing their projects.

Inquiries: Jarmo Sareva, Ambassador for Innovation, Unit for Sustainable Development and Climate Policy, Ministry for Foreign Affairs, tel. +358 295 350 418 (UNOPS development office in Finland); Tanja Grén, Counsellor, Unit for Sustainable Development and Climate Policy, Ministry for Foreign Affairs, tel. +358 295 351 683 (Executive Director’s visit); and Kuutti Koski, Communications Coordinator, tel. +358 295 350 206 (requests for interviews).

The email addresses of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs are in the format [email protected].