Current affairs
21.3.2012
Breaking barriers – One Innovation at a Time
A new class of female innovators build profitable businesses that empower women and contribute to a more open and inclusive society, Development Minister Heidi Hautala and Vice-President Janamitra Devan remind on International Women's Day. A good example is M-Farm, a company that sends farmers real-time market information via SMS.
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5.3.2012
Presidential Inauguration on 1 March 2012
Sauli Väinämö Niinistö, the 12th President of the Republic of Finland, was inaugurated on Thursday 1 March 2012. At a plenary session of Parliament, President Niinistö made the solemn declaration specified in section 56 of the Constitution of Finland, affirming that in the execution of his office as President he will sincerely and faithfully observe the Constitution and laws of the Republic and to the best of his ability promote the success of the Finnish people.
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23.2.2012
Building Trade through Customs Modernization in Africa
As part of continued efforts to build modern customs administrations in Africa, the World Customs Organization (WCO) recently organized a three-day workshop for top customs officials. The first Top Management Dialogue, held in Pretoria (South Africa) from Monday 6 to Wednesday 8 February 2012, brought together a group of high-level Customs officers from the East and Southern Africa Region (ESA).
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23.2.2012
7.2.2012
Number of votes cast abroad reaches record high
Preliminary figures for the number of advance votes cast at diplomatic missions abroad in the second round of the Finnish presidential elections reached a record high of 50,367. This is 6 per cent more than the number of advance votes cast in the first round (47,780), which was the previous all-time record. The number of voters was up 30 per cent on the figure for the second round of the 2006 presidential elections at 38,849.
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7.2.2012
Sauli Niinistö is Finland's 12th president
Finnish voters have elected Sauli Niinistö from the moderate conservative National Coalition Party as the nation's 12th president in a decisive second round on Sunday. The 63-year-old former finance minister defeated the Green’s Pekka Haavisto by 62.6 per cent to 37.4 per cent.
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3.2.2012
Global Sustainability Panel co-chaired by President Halonen submits its report
The UN High-level Panel on Global Sustainability, co-chaired by President of the Republic Tarja Halonen and President of South Africa Jacob Zuma, submitted its report to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon at the African Union Summit in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa on Monday, 30 January 2012.
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1.12.2011
Recreation through Reforestation
For their annual retreat day, the staff of the Finnish embassy in Lusaka decided this year they would combine pleasure with doing some greater good. Since environment is one of the core areas in Finnish development cooperation with Zambia, and since forests are very dear to most Finns, what would be better than planting some trees together, have a good time and combat deforestation?
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9.11.2011
20 Years of Finland Supporting the African Capacity Building Foundation
Finland has been funding the African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF) since 1991. The Head of the Unit for Southern Africa of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Jorma Suvanto, attended the 20th Annual Meeting of the ACBF Board of Governors last month. The meeting was held in Arusha, Tanzania between 7th and 10th of September 2011.
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