Minister Anne Berner will attend a meeting of Ministers for Nordic Cooperation in Copenhagen on 24 April.

In this year’s parliamentary elections, a total of 41,127 eligible voters used their right to vote abroad. Of these, 40,914 persons voted in Finnish missions abroad during the advance voting period, while 213 Finnish crew members cast their advance votes on board ships.

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs is planning and creating communication that will promote peace and reconciliation in Iraq and Afghanistan. Communication will focus on young people and the faith that young people hold in their own ability to contribute to society.

In 2018, the amount of expenditure used for development cooperation fell in real terms by 14.6% in relation to the previous year. With a contribution of EUR 833 million to development cooperation, Finland was the ninth largest donor among the EU Member States.

The EU Foreign Affairs Council (FAC) will meet in Luxembourg on 8 April. Finland's representative at the meeting will be Minister for Foreign Affairs Timo Soini. Items on the agenda include Afghanistan, Eastern Partnership and Venezuela.

In 2019, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, together with other Team Finland organizations and the U.S. Embassy in Helsinki, will organize Road Show in Finland. The aim is to strengthen bilateral commercial and economic relations between Finland and the United States by advancing trade, investments and innovation cooperation.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Timo Soini will host a joint session of the Presidential Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) and the Committee of Ministers Bureau of the Council of Europe in Helsinki on 3 April 2019.

Finland will support Mozambique’s recovery from the cyclone that hit the country in mid-March through the Finnish Red Cross and the United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) and by providing technical assistance.

Today, UN Secretary-General António Guterres' High-level Panel on Digital Cooperation and the Global Tech Panel convened by EU High Representative/Vice-President Federica Mogherini will hold a landmark joint meeting in Espoo, Finland at the invitation of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and in cooperation with Nokia.

Consultancy company Ramboll has completed its study of the prevention, handling and follow-up of cases of harassment in the Foreign Service. The results were presented to the Ministry's personnel on Tuesday 26 March.

Finland was particularly widely featured in the world’s media due to the meeting between Trump and Putin in Helsinki. According to the results of the annual ‘Finland in the World Media’ survey, based on Finnish embassies’ and consulates’ reviews of their host countries’ media, other key topics of international interest included education expertise; equality; and the basic income experiment.

The tour of Finnish schools which Foreign Minister Soini began in autumn 2017 will continue this spring in Kitee, Oulu ja Muhos. Minister Soini will visit the general upper secondary school in Kitee on Friday 22 March, and the general upper secondary school in Muhos and a teaching practice school in Oulu on Monday 25 March.

The Finland Promotion Board has revised its Finland Toolbox. The presentation toolkit offers information about Finland and themes that are important for the Finns, and it is available for anyone who wants to tell about these matters to international audiences.

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs together with WWF Finland have compiled guidelines for eco-friendly meetings. In future, all meetings to be organised by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs will be eco-friendly. The missions abroad may apply the guidelines as applicable, considering the local circumstances.

The EU Foreign Affairs Council (FAC) will meet in Brussels on 18 March. Finland's representative at the meeting will be Minister for Foreign Affairs Timo Soini.

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Finland's Minister for Foreign Affairs Timo Soini, Sweden's Minister for Foreign Affairs Margot Wallström, Germany's Minister of Foreign Affairs Heiko Maas, and State Secretary for Foreign Policy of Denmark Jonas Bering Liisberg will have a meeting in Helsinki on Tuesday 19 March.

Permanent State Secretary Matti Anttonen will represent Finland at the international conference on Syria in Brussels on 14 March. The objective of the ”Supporting the future of Syria and the region” conference, organised by the EU and the United Nations, is to support the UN-led political process and to agree about further measures to help those affected by the crisis.

A number of ambassadorial appointments to be made during the regular annual round of appointments are under preparation in the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. On Monday 11 March, the Ministry consulted Chancellor of Justice Tuomas Pöysti to clarify the situation. According to the Chancellor of Justice, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs can continue processing of the pending appointments during the caretaker government's term of office.

Secretary-General of the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Angel Gurría will visit Finland from 14 to 15 March.

Finland's policy coherence in different subareas should be strengthened and there should be closer coordination of development cooperation and humanitarian assistance. The evaluation commends Finland's work to improve the situation of people with disabilities in refugee conditions.

Finland grants a long-term partnership loan to the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). IFAD President will visit Finland on 13-14 March.

In his address to the personnel of the Foreign Ministry's Department for Development Policy on 7 March, Minister for Foreign Affairs Soini said that Europe should now adopt a new approach in its policy on Africa. Minister Soini's speech was held by Permanent State Secretary Matti Anttonen.

Every year the Communications Department of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs organises tens of visits for foreign media and decision-makers. The visits are part of the long-term work on communications and Finland’s country image. They help to strengthen Finland’s political, economic and cultural impact, promote trade and economic relations, and brighten our country image. Visits are organised in close cooperation with other promotion organisations. Key partners include Finnfacts and the City of Helsinki.

Colombian Minister of Foreign Affairs Carlos Holmes Trujillo will visit Finland on 3–5 March 2019 and meet Minister for Foreign Affairs Timo Soini.

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs and the Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority of Finland will host a working group meeting of the International Partnership for Nuclear Disarmament Verification (IPNDV) in Finlandia Hall from 5 to 7 March 2019.

As part of the implementation of the National Action Plan on Fundamental and Human Rights, the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry for Foreign Affairs commissioned a qualitative study on the rights and experiences of intersex persons. The purpose of the study was to find out how the decisions made when an intersex child is born and the treatments the child receives in childhood and adolescence have affected their lives.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Timo Soini and President of the United Nations General Assembly Maria Fernanda Espinosa will have a meeting in Helsinki on Wednesday 6 March to discuss topical international themes, focusing on young people's role in mediation and peace processes. Espinosa will visit Finland to attend the First International Symposium on Youth Participation in Peace Processes, held in Helsinki on 5–6 March.

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs and the United Nations together with civil society representatives will hold the First International Symposium on Youth Participation in Peace Processes on 5–6 March.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Timo Soini will visit Paris on 28 February to attend a joint meeting of the Presidential Committee and Bureau of the Assembly of the Council of Europe.

The Finnish-Kazakh Intergovernmental Commission for Economic Cooperation will meet in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, from 28 February to 1 March 2019. The Commission will be co-chaired by Finland's Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Anne-Mari Virolainen and Kazakhstan's Minister of Energy Kanat Bozumbajev.

Of the support, EUR four million will be channelled to Yemen, which is suffering from the worst humanitarian crisis of world with over 80 per cent of the population in need of assistance.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Soini will meet Croatia's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Marija Pejčinović Burić in Helsinki on 26 February.

Foreign Minister Soini and Secretary General Jagland will discuss topical issues in the Council of Europe, such as Russia's right to vote and non-payment of its budget contributions.

Executive Director of UNOPS Grete Faremo will visit Finland from 26 to 27 February. The United Nations Office for Project Services, UNOPS, which offers project management, infrastructure and procurement services, is interested in strengthening its cooperation with Finland.

Executive Director of UN Women Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka will visit Finland from 25 to 26 February.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Timo Soini has been awarded an Estonian State decoration to be conferred to him on Friday 22 February. While in Tallinn, Minister Soini will also meet the President and the Foreign Minister of Estonia.

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Tanzania Augustine Mahiga will visit Finland on Monday 25 February and have a meeting with Minister for Foreign Affairs Timo Soini. The aim of the visit is to promote the relations between the two countries and to discuss topical bilateral and international questions.

Permanent Secretary Ilkka Salmi and Finland's Roving Ambassador to Iraq Päivi Laine visited Iraq from 17 to 19 February. They had meetings with senior officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Displacement and Migration, and Ministry of Justice of Iraq.

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Justice in cooperation with the Council of Europe are organising a high-level expert conference on the impacts of artificial intelligence on human rights, democracy, and the rule of law. The conference will be held in Helsinki on 26-27 February 2019.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Soini will visit Rome and Vatican City from 19 to 21 February and have a meeting with his Italian counterpart. This year marks the 100th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Finland and Italy.

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs has granted a discretion government transfer of EUR 911,000 to be distributed to nine civil society organisations (CSO) working in the area of foreign and security policy.

The EU Foreign Affairs Council (FAC) will meet in Brussels on 18 February. Finland's representative at the meeting will be Minister for Foreign Affairs Timo Soini. The topics on the meeting agenda include Ukraine, Syria and the Horn of Africa. At lunch, foreign ministers will discuss the situation in Venezuela. Minister Soini will also attend an EU-Ukraine breakfast meeting, hosted by Denmark and Ukraine. Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Pavlo Klimkin will be present, too.

On 14 February 2019, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) gave its judgment in a case concerning Finland. The Court held that there had been no violation of Article 6 (right to a fair hearing) of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Anne-Mari Virolainen will make a Team Finland visit to Mexico on 14–15 February. The Minister will be accompanied by a Team Finland delegation.

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs has granted EUR 470,000 in discretionary government transfers to civil society organisations’ (CSOs) Europe information. In addition, EUR 100,000 was granted to the provision of information relating to the European elections.

Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Anne-Mari Virolainen will visit Washington DC on 11–12 February.

Special Representative of UN Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction Mami Mizutori, who is head of the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR), and Kirsi Madi, Director at UNISDR, will visit Finland on 11–12 February 2019.

On Tuesday 12 February, Minister for Foreign Affairs Timo Soini will visit Moscow and have a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

A working group consisting of development and education specialists proposes that Finland should adopt education as one of its development cooperation and development policy priorities and significantly increase its funding for the cause. Ministers Anne-Mari Virolainen and Sanni Grahn-Laasonen support the proposal. They have decided to set up a broad-based steering group to promote the working group's recommendations and to foster closer cooperation between operators in the field in Finland.