Current Affairs

Finland will grant additional EUR 12 million in humanitarian assistance to help earthquake survivors in Türkiye and Syria. The support will be used to finance food aid, water services, emergency shelters and protection to those who lost their homes.

The previous UN Water Conference took place 46 years ago. Antti Rautavaara, Special Envoy for Water at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, tells what the UN Water Conference to be held on 22–24 March 2023 is all about and how water issues are connected to security policy.

EU foreign ministers will convene in Brussels on 20 March. A joint session of EU foreign and defence ministers will be held on the same day. Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto will represent Finland at the Foreign Affairs Council meeting. Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister of Defence Antti Kaikkonen will represent Finland at the joint session. In addition, Minister Haavisto and Minister Kaikkonen will meet NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.

”Other countries have high expectations for Finland in terms of promoting gender equality,” says Thomas Blomqvist, Minister for Nordic Cooperation and Equality. He led the Finnish delegation to the 67th UN session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) in New York during its first high-level week.

Finland’s new National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security was published on 13 March. This is Finland’s fourth National Action Plan (NAP), extending from 2023 to the end of 2027. The NAP is the result of a broad-based stakeholder collaboration. Its key objective is to strengthen women’s participation in the area of peace and security, and thereby support efforts to build sustainable peace.

Finland’s image grew stronger in 2022. Finland has had remarkable visibility in foreign media, and news about Finland has met with an exceptionally positive reception. In particular, opinions about Finland’s government and people have become even more positive. Increased familiarity with Finland is important as the country seeks ways to influence the world, according to the Country Image Annual Report, published by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs.

Consultation of civil society has become an established part of Finland’s preparations for the sessions of the UN Human Rights Council. The views of civil society support the Ministry for Foreign Affairs in its work to promote human rights. Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto discussed with a broad spectrum of the Finnish civil society members in February before the 52nd session of the UN Human Rights Council.

Ukraine has requested support from Finland, particularly to meet the immediate and longer-term needs related to education, the environment and radiation safety. Finland will provide Ukraine with EUR 29 million in humanitarian assistance and development cooperation support.

The third meeting of the Permanent Joint Mechanism between Finland, Sweden and Türkiye was held in Brussels on 9 March. The discussions took place at NATO Headquarters. Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg also participated in the first part of the meeting.

On 27 March 2023, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs will publish two reports on how the forthcoming EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence (CSDD) Directive would affect developing countries and their companies and trade.

Finns are once again actively travelling abroad. Over the years, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs has been reminding travellers of things to take into account when travelling abroad to make sure their trip runs as smoothly as possible.

The meeting agenda will also include global health and the EU’s competitiveness. Finland is represented by the Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Ville Skinnari.

As a NATO invitee, Finland will participate in NATO Crisis Management Exercise 2023 (CMX23) to be held between 9 and 15 March. CMX is NATO’s regular consultation and decision-making exercise.

Kansainvälisen teknologiayrityksen IBM Systemsin johtajan Heli Laitilan mukaan tekoälyllä toimivissa sovelluksissa tunnistetut sukupuolittuneet vinoumat tulee korjata. Laitila korostaa, että naisia ja tyttöjä pitää rohkaista enemmän edelleen miehiselle teknologia-alalle.

on March 7 2023 in Doha

This week, a Mongolian delegation composed of public officials from several ministries is visiting Finland to learn about heat pump technology and other energy solutions related to the supply of heat. Besides the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, the delegation will meet representatives of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, Business Finland, Nordic Development Fund and Finnish Energy. The visit is part of an energy sector project funded by the Asian Development Bank that aims to find alternative forms of renewable energy production in Mongolia.

The 67th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) will take place in New York between 6 and 17 March 2023. Finland will be represented at the session by a broad-based delegation headed by Minister for Nordic Cooperation and Equality Thomas Blomqvist.

State Secretary Johanna Sumuvuori will lead Finland’s national delegation to the UN Conference on the Least Developed Countries in Doha, Qatar. More than one third of Finland’s development cooperation funding goes to the least developed countries, which also make up the majority of Finland’s bilateral partners.

Commerce accounts for most of Finland’s imports from China, while exports to China are centred around large industrial companies, according to a report on Finland’s trade dependence on China. The report was coordinated by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. It is a collection of information and figures to support discussions on Finland’s dependence on China.