Renewed Ministry for Foreign Affairs website opened
The renewed Ministry for Foreign Affairs website has been opened. The user interface, visual appearance, publishing system, and partly even the contents have been renewed. A new feature is also the RSS feed, notifying subscribers of new and changed contents when the site is updated.
In the user interface and appearance the target has been clarity. The website, established in 2000, is now frameless and reflects the new visual image of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, launched last autumn. The site can be accessed with any regular browser programme without needing to download new plug-in software from the web. Only the news service, i.e. the RSS-feed, requires a separate programme, as well as viewing of webcasts. Satama Interactive answers for the user interface and the visual outlook of the website, and Fujitsu for the publishing system.
Most of the site contents are now in Finnish, but the amount of Swedish and English information on also other topics than the current issues is being increased all the time.
As far as the contents of the website are concerned, the biggest change is the integration of development policy and trade policy issues into the Ministry for Foreign Affairs website. The development policy has earlier been featured on the global.finland.fi(Link to another website.) (Opens New Window) site, which will continue as a web publication intended for education to internationality. Trade policy news have featured on the online version of the Kauppapolitiikka magazine at www.kauppapolitiikka.fi(Link to another website.) (Opens New Window).
In case of a crisis, the Ministry website can now be more easily adapted to serve the information needs of the general public than before. Already as possible preparation for crisis situations, the travellers can familiarise themselves with the situation of their destination country by reading the travel advisories. Travel advisories and contact information of Finland's foreign missions can also be subscribed via SMS message or accessed via the mobile phone WAP browser.
Countries and Regions are now featured on a separate subsection from the Missions section, consisting of the foreign missions' own websites. The Ministry intends to restructure the Countries and Regions subsection into an information base on different countries, based on inputs by the missions and the regional departments of the Ministry.
A News group has been added to the Current Affairs section, informing about the latest events and visits within the foreign administration. Appointments are also featured as a separate group. Otherwise the section features the same subsections as before: press releases, media reviews around the world, webcasts, speeches and articles of the ministers and senior officials, as well as job openings and events. It is possible to subscribe to an RSS feed on any of the current affairs sections.
In addition to the news, there is now more room on the front page for current projects and events. On the front page of the subsections, the Ministry departments also have an opportunity to inform about the current events within their particular sectors, whether related to crisis management or human rights. The Ministry for Foreign Affairs' own EU Presidency material can be found in the EU subsection.
The EU Presidency website directed to the citizens will be opened later in June on the Europe information site of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs.
Additional information: Head of Web Communications Raija Leppäjärvi, Department for Communication and Culture, tel. +358 9 1605 5991