Ahtisaari Day celebrated
How are conflicts resolved in an international context? How can one reduce tensions in a work community or school? How do you and I resolve everyday disagreements? These issues will be considered again on the Ahtisaari Day, Thursday 8 November. This year, the main venue of the event is Helsinki, and the programme is divided into events intended for schools, the general public and experts.
The purpose of the national Ahtisaari Day, now celebrated for the second time, is to increase information about prevention and resolution of disputes both internationally and at an everyday level. The day lays special emphasis on mediation and conciliation in everyday life and the Finnish mediation competence.
Peace begins in schools and with upbringing
Education and upbringing play a major role in increasing information on mediation and conciliation. This is the reason why schools are at the very heart of the Ahtisaari Day. In the morning, President Martti Ahtisaari will visit two schools in Helsinki to award one pupil who has promoted mediation in school work in each.
This year the places he will visit are the Kallahti primary school and Nordsjö lågstadieskola (Swedish-language primary school in Vuosaari). In the afternoon, President Ahtisaari will participate in a party for mediator pupils, organised by Helsinki Education Department. This year, nine schools organised election of the best mediator of their school and the names of those receiving the award will be published on the Ahtisaari Day.
On the Ahtisaari Day, Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja and Minister for International Development Heidi Hautala will visit Helsinki Media Arts Upper Secondary School. The programme will include a discussion session between the ministers and upper secondary school students and playing the Ahtisaari Day conflict resolution role play together with the students. In the game, the participants try to solve a conflict in an imaginary state called Kurkum.
The public event to be held at the University of Helsinki on Thursday 8 November will provide an opportunity to discuss with President Ahtisaari. The theme of the event is civil peace in Finland and elsewhere in the world. Live webcast of the event will be available over the Internet from 4 pm at: www.helsinki.fi/ahtisaaripaiva.html
A high-level seminar will bring top peace mediators together
The Ahtisaari Day will still continue on Friday 9 November with an international seminar of experts held at the Helsinki City Hall. The panellists taking part in the discussion will be President Ahtisaari, founder of the Open Society Institute George Soros, BBC correspondent Lyse Doucet, and General Robert Mood, who was responsible for the UN Supervision Mission in Syria. Commentary addresses will be given by Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja, CEO Anne Berner and Olympic medallist Silja Lehtinen. The topic of discussion is the impact of the unstable economic situation on mediation activities. The seminar is organised by the Crisis Management Initiative organisation and the Finnish Institute of International Affairs.
The Ahtisaari Day is celebrated annually in November around Martti's name day (10 Nov.). The main organisers of the Ahtisaari Day are the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Education and Culture, and the Finnish National Board of Education.
Follow the Ahtisaari Day at Twitter: #Apaiva
Read and view more about the Ahtisaari Day at:
- www.ahtisaaripaiva.fi
- www.facebook.com/ahtisaaripaiva
- Peace Grows from Mutual Respect
- Building Peace and Preventing Conflicts during Economic Turmoil –seminaari (UPI, CMI
- General public event on 8 November starting at 4 pm
- www.twitter.com/ulkoministerio #Apaiva
- www.cmi.fi
- www.fiia.fi
- Further information on mediation on the Ministry for Foreign Affairs website