Strong support from Finland for UN Women

In 2021, Finland’s funding to UN Women core resources will be EUR 19 million. Last year, Finland was the largest of UN Women’s core resource partners.

“UN Women has done excellent work and, under the leadership of Executive Director Sima Bahous, it has clear plans on its focus areas for the next few years,” says Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Ville Skinnari

“The list of global gender equality challenges may seem endless, but Finland’s funding has also contributed a lot to tackle them, especially in improving the rights and status of women and girls in the most vulnerable positions. Finland reaffirms its long-term commitment to this work.” 

Promoting the status and rights of women and girls is one of the key objectives of Finland’s foreign policy, and UN Women is one of Finland’s most important cooperation partners in achieving these objectives.

Core funding is flexible support that organisations can direct to where it is most urgently needed. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and many other rapidly escalating global crises, this form of support has been particularly significant. Finland has requested that in the core funding for 2021, special attention be paid to the Middle East.

UN Women promotes efforts to eliminate gender inequality and discrimination as well as to strengthen the status, opportunities and rights of women and girls. The organisation directs and coordinates the United Nations’ gender equality work.
 
Inquiries: 

Mikko Autti, Special Adviser to the Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade, tel. +358 295 350 034, 

Satu Lassila, Director, Unit for Sustainable Development and Climate Policy, tel. +358 295 350 897

The email addresses of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs are in the format firstname.lastname@formin.fi.