Current affairs

Development Minister Sirpa Paatero has today signed a pledge of EUR 7.1 million in support for the UN Ebola Trust Fund through which UN agencies, led by WHO, are fighting against the spread of the disease in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Erkki Tuomioja has appointed Counsellor of Foreign Affairs Tiina Jortikka-Laitinen as the Minister’s special representative for the work against Ebola. She starts in her new post immediately. Jortikka-Laitinen has previously served, for instance, as the Ambassador of Finland in Tunisia and as Ambassador in the Dialogue among Civilizations process.

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs is granting 920,000 euros via the Finnish Red Cross for the International Red Cross and Red Crescent work to curb the Ebola epidemic. Finland has previously granted a total of 780,000 euros through WHO and the Finnish Red Cross for the work against Ebola.

By decision of Minister for International Development Pekka Haavisto, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs will provide EUR 280,000 of funding for the work against Ebola performed by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, submitted through the Finnish Red Cross, and EUR 500,000 for corresponding efforts of the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Minister Haavisto will attend the annual meeting on the development of fragile states

Today, on 29 June, Finland and the Special Court for Sierra Leone signed and agreement between them concerning the execution of sentences pronounced by the Special Court. The agreement was signed in The Hague by Finnish Ambassador to the Netherlands Mikko Jokela and Deputy Registrar of the Special Court for Sierra Leone Binta Mansaray.