Haavisto appointed to assess the UN role in Europe
3 December, 2004
A task force chaired by Finnish Pekka Haavisto has been appointed to assess the role of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, UNECE, in a changed Europe. The task force was set up by UNECE member states and its report is due in June 2005. Haavisto's task force includes former UN Under Secretary General Karl Paschke from Germany and experts Johannah Bernstein from Canada and Tapio Wallenius from Finland.
The UN Economic Commission for Europe, UNECE, is a cooperation organisation of 55 member states whose fields of activity include trade, industry, energy, transport and the enviroment. UNECE was founded in 1947 and it is one of the five regional commissions of the United Nations. Since the EU's enlargement the cooperation between the UN and the EU in Europe has become more important.
Pekka Haavisto has worked as UN Environment Programme expert in conflict areas. His expertise has been used in various assessment tasks in Kosovo, Afghanistan, Iraq, the occupied Palestinian territories and Liberia. Haavisto was the Finnish Minister of the Enviroment and Development Cooperation in 1995-1999.
Further information: Pekka Haavisto, tel. 040 5884720 or +41 79 477 0877