Foreign Ministry's press releases

Finland will chair the session of the Conference of States Parties (COSP) to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) on 15–17 June 2021. Representatives from more than 180 countries are expected to attend the Conference, which will be held both virtually and at the UN headquarters in New York. A large number of representatives of civil society organisations and UN agencies, dedicated to promoting the rights of persons with disabilities, will also attend the Conference. Finland’s delegation will be led by Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto.

For the first time, Finland has been ranked number one in an international comparison of sustainable development. The esteemed ranking by the UN and the Bertelsmann Foundation is published annually, and Finland has also been in the top three in earlier years, together with Denmark and Sweden. The comparison assesses countries’ progress on implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Development Goals.

In this year’s municipal elections, 2,684 persons voted in Finland’s missions abroad. The number is higher than in the municipal elections of 2017, when the total number of voters abroad was 9,500.

On 14 June, EU development ministers will discuss the EU’s cooperation with middle income countries and exchange views on human development. On Finland’s proposal, the ministers will receive an overview of promoting school meals in the partner countries for development cooperation. Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Ville Skinnari will represent Finland in the informal video conference.

Finland will support the World Trade Organisation’s trade-related technical assistance (TRTA) activities by slightly more than EUR one million in 2021–2022. The support is aimed to strengthen least-developed countries’ trading capacity. The agreement on the support was signed on 10 June 2021 in Geneva.

Finland will contribute EUR 10 million in 2021 to the international Vaccine Alliance Gavi.

Finland is coordinating cooperation between the Nordic countries and Baltic states in the Nordic–Baltic Eight (NB8) format in 2021. The second foreign ministerial meeting of the year will be held on Wednesday 2 June. Due to the COVID-19 situation, the meeting will be held virtually.

Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Ville Skinnari will visit St Petersburg on 2–5 June. Minister Skinnari will attend the St Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF). The International Economic Forum will bring together influential leaders from the world of business and economics from various parts of the globe, offering an excellent platform for exchange of views with representatives of business and political life.

Finland has allocated one million euros to support the flash appeal for Gaza, launched by United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, UNRWA. The funding will be used to provide, for example, food, shelters and health services to Palestinians in Gaza.

The ministerial council meeting of the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) will be held virtually on 31 May–1 June 2021. The meeting will focus on the economic recovery after the coronavirus pandemic and the future priorities of the OECD.