Foreign Ministry's press releases

On 2 November, Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto will visit Copenhagen to attend the 73rd Session of the Nordic Council. At the Nordic Council plenary session, he will deliver a speech on Nordic foreign and security policy cooperation. Finland is chairing the Nordic (N5) cooperation on foreign and security policy in 2021.

Claudia Mahler, Independent Expert on the enjoyment of all human rights by older persons at the UN Human Rights Council, will visit Finland from 26 October to 4 November. This is the first time that an Independent Expert on the human rights by older persons, mandated in 2014, visits the Nordic countries. The purpose of the visit is to prepare a report on the legislation related to the rights of older people and on the implementation of their rights in Finland for the UN Human Rights Council. The Independent Expert will present her report and recommendations concerning Finland to the Human Rights Council in its autumn session of 2022, where Finland will participate in the interactive dialogue.

According to a recent survey, 68 per cent of Finns consider development cooperation very or fairly important. About a quarter of Finns say that their attitudes have become more negative recently. The majority believe that Finland’s development cooperation has improved the position of women and girls in Afghanistan over the past 20 years. The results are based on a survey carried out for the Foreign Ministry by Taloustutkimus.

Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Ville Skinnari will visit Stockholm on 25 October 2021. The Minister will have a meeting with Sweden’s Minister for Foreign Trade Anna Hallberg and, together with representatives of Swedish and Finnish companies and universities, meet representatives of Swedish industry.

On 25–26 October, Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto will attend the Foreign Minister’s meeting of the Barents Euro-Arctic Council in Tromsø. The meeting will end Norway’s Chairmanship, after which the Chairmanship will be handed over to Finland for the next two years.

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.