NordenBladet — From Thursday 22 to Saturday 24 March, The King and Queen took part in a Scout trip with the Baden-Powell Fellowship to Mexico City, Mexico. The meeting was arranged by the World Scout Foundation, of which The King is Honorary Chairman. The Mexican Scout Movement has grown rapidly in recent years, with more and more members joining local Scout troops.
A seminar was held at the Panamerican University in Mexico City. Here, Scouts from various South American countries talked about some of the projects that have been made possible thanks to funds raised. The participants heard about Mexican Scout troops’ efforts following the hurricanes that struck the country in 2017.
The King mentioned these efforts in his speech at a dinner with the Baden-Powell Fellowship:
“These young men and women truly set an example; not only for their peers, but also for their elders. For us!”
On Mexico City’s Zócalo Square, Scouts built the world’s biggest fleur-de-lis (the symbol of the international Scout Movement) from collected empty cans. Photo: royalcourt.se
On the last day of their visit, The King and Queen took part in a Scouting activity at the National Palace on Mexico City’s Zócalo Square, where 10,000 Scouts worked together to build the world’s biggest fleur-de-lis (the symbol of the international Scout Movement) from collected empty cans.
The Baden-Powell Fellowship
The Baden-Powell Fellowship consists of more than 2,200 people in 70 countries who have donated money to the Scout Movement through the World Scout Foundation, of which The King is Honorary Chairman. The money raised helps to develop the Scout Movement in various parts of the world. The Swedish branch of the Baden-Powell Fellowship has 140 members. Lord Robert Baden-Powell (1857-1941) was the founder of the Scout Movement.
The World Scout Foundation
The World Scout Foundation raises funds for the continued development of the global Scout Movement. Today, there are approximately 50 million Scouts around the world.
Featured image: The King and Queen concluded their visit by taking part in a Scouting activity in Mexico City. (Photo: royalcourt.se)
Source: Swedish Royal Court Find us also on Twitter: @NordenBladet
NordenBladet — On Thursday 22 March, The Crown Princess visited the Amphibious Regiment (Amf 1) at Berga.
During her visit, The Crown Princess learnt about the regiment’s operations and had the opportunity to try combat shooting and throwing a live hand grenade.
The Crown Princess also joined the basic training company which is currently carrying out the Torleif exercise. The Crown Princess accompanied the soldiers on part of the exercise.
The visit concluded with The Crown Princess carrying out hovercraft training. Under supervision, The Crown Princess controlled the hovercraft for part of the concluding trip between Berga and Lidingö near Stockholm.
Featured image: The Crown Princess practises combat shooting. (Photo: Magnus Lindstedt/The Swedish Armed Forces)
Source: Swedish Royal Court Find us also on Twitter: @NordenBladet
NordenBladet — On Thursday 22 March, The Crown Princess attended Discussions on Water at Teater Pero in Stockholm. The discussions were arranged by WaterAid in connection with World Oceans Day.
Discussions on Water began with Cecilia Chatterjee-Martinsen, Secretary-General of WaterAid Sweden, welcoming the attendees. She then led the discussion, in which former Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations and WaterAid ambassador Jan Eliasson, Country Director of WaterAid Ethiopia Bethlehem Mengistu and actress and WaterAid ambassador Sofia Helin took part.
During the discussion, the speakers gave their perspectives on how clean water is essential in order to combat poverty, strengthen women’s rights and give children the opportunity to go to school.
In connection with World Oceans Day, WaterAid published its global report The Water Gap – The State of the World’s Water 2018external link, opens in new window. The report says that 844 million people currently lack access to clean water, and that 60 percent of the world’s population lives in areas with a shortage of water. The report also explains which countries are suffering the most from the global water crisis. India is the country with the most people who lack clean water: 163 million. Calculated by population percentage, the water crisis is worst in sub-Saharan Africa.
WaterAid
WaterAid is an independent international organisation that strives to improve people’s lives by improving access to clean water, sanitation and hygiene education for the world’s poorest societies. The organisation works with local partners for sustainable, long-term solutions, influencing decision-makers both globally and nationally to prioritise initiatives that meet these basic needs.
The Crown Princess has been a patron of WaterAid since 2011. In her role as patron, she has taken part in various event arranged by WaterAid and has visited WaterAid’s operations in Tanzania.
NordenBladet – The annual Arctic Business Forum introduces the latest business development of the Arctic, investigates global and local trends and future prospects, and offers companies and organizations the chance to present their own business at the forum. The Arctic Europe has been calculated to hold investment potential worth of at least 197 billion euro. The forum offers valuable information about the possibilities and future investment potential of the Arctic region both for the local business representatives and international investors. The aim of the forum is to build networks and relationships among the region’s various business representatives.
The speakers of the Arctic Business Forum are all key representatives and stakeholders from various fields of Arctic industry. The themes addressed cover topics such as business investment potential in the Arctic, business policies and risks, innovation and Arctic cooperation.
PROMOTING ARCTIC BUSINESS Lapland Chamber of Commerce (est. 1939) is the Northernmost Chamber of Commerce in the European Union. The mission is to create success for business in Lapland and Finland. Representing views and opinions of trade and industry the Chamber is working on better business environment, offering business related services and building networks in order to maintain and enhance business competitiveness. Members of the Chamber include a variety of companies from big industrial companies to SME’s from different industries and branches of business, municipalities and other business related actors.
International cooperation and networking plays an active role of the Chamber activities. The annual Arctic Business Forum introduces the latest business development and future prospects of the arctic, and plays as an arena and meeting point to discuss the opportunities and obstacles of business. Arctic issues being the expertise area of the Chamber it has been involved in the preparation process of the Arctic Economic Council and, it is a member of the Northern Forum.
Lapland is the northernmost county of Finland with about 183 000 inhabitants. The total area of the county is 99 000 km2, which equals to 30% of the whole of Finland. Lapland is sharing borders with Sweden, Norway and Russia, altogether 1642 km. There are two international border crossings to Russia, six to Sweden and six to Norway. The six sub regions of Kemi-Tornio, East Lapland, the Valley of Tornio, Northern Lapland, the region of Rovaniemi and Fell Lapland form the region of Lapland. Rovaniemi is the administrative capital of Lapland with appr. 60900 inhabitants. The other cities in Lapland are Kemi, Tornio and Kemijärvi.
Clean nature and abundant natural resources provide a unique, solid foundation for the business sector in Lapland. The total turnover of Lapland business is over 10 billion euro, which of 34% is from industry. Lapland is the 5th strongest export region in Finland. Forest and metal are the main industrial players although mining and tourism are strongly growing branches of business in Lapland.
Arctic business forum 2018
Investments, Competitiveness & Startups in the Arctic
The 9th Arctic Business Forum will be organized 11. – 12.4.2018 at Kemi Finland, the capital of Arctic Industry.
While embracing the economic cooperation between the Arctic countries, the forum offers also valuable information about the possibilities and future investment potential of the Arctic region both for the local business representatives and international investors. Aim is to scrutinize the future and build network and relationships among region’s various representatives.
The Arctic Europe holds investment potential worth of at least 197 billion euro. In the forum will be presented the latest news in business development in this region. The speakers in the Arctic Business Forum are the key representatives and stakeholders on various branch of Arctic industry. The global and local trends at stake are addressed at the Arctic Business Forum. Moreover, the companies and organizations have a chance to present their own business at the trade show in touch with the forum.
The Arctic Business Forum is organized for the second time at the city of Kemi, which is, together with the city of Tornio, one of the biggest industrial centers in the Arctic region. The region’s future development in forest industry at Kemi and steel industry at Tornio offer various possibilities to SMEs in subcontracting and maintenance.
Welcome to the Arctic Business Forum 2018 to bond with other Arctic business representatives and stakeholders working for the Arctic prosperity.
Venue: City of Kemi, Kemi Cultural Centre (address: Marina Takalon Katu 3, 94100 Kemi)
Program 2018
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 11th
9.00 OPENING SESSION
Mr. Juha Mäkimattila, Chairman of Board, Lapland Chamber of Commerce, Finland
Mr. Tero Nissinen, Mayor of Kemi, Finland
Mr. Sun Liwei, Economic & Commercial Counselor, Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Finland, China
09.45 CROSS-BORDER CO-OPERATION IN THE EUROPEAN ARCTIC
Mr. Harri Mäki-Reinikka, Ambassador, Senior Adviser, Northern Policies Department of Europe, Finland
Mr. Peter Waara, Chair Haparanda Municipal Council, Sweden
Mr. Anatoly Glushkov, President, Murmansk Region Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Russia
11.30 ARCTIC BUSINESS AND INVESTMENT POTENTIAL IN 2018
Mr. Timo Rautajoki, President & CEO, Lapland Chamber of Commerce, Finland
Mr. Mikå Mered, Professor of Arctic/Antarctic economics & geopolitics – Free Institute of International Relations Studies (ILERI, Paris), France
12.15 NETWORKING LUNCH
13.15 THE GREAT ARCTIC RAILWAY DEBATE
Moderator: Mr. Timo Rautajoki, President & CEO, Lapland Chamber of Commerce, Finland
Keynote: Mr. Pirkka Hartikainen, Area Manager, Sitowise Oy, Finland
Keynote: Mr. Kjell Stokvik, Managing Director, Centre for High North Logistics / Kirkenes, Norway
Mr. Andreas Lind, Business and Development Director, County Administrative Board of Norrbotten, Sweden
Mr. Marko Varajärvi, CEO, Council of Torne Valley, Finland
Mr. Jaakko Ylinampa, Director General, Lapland’s Centre for Economic Development, Finland
Mr. Harri Mäki-Reinikka, Ambassador, Senior Adviser, Northern Policies Department of Europe, Finland
Mr. Kustaa Valtonen, Entrepreneur & Angel Investor, Finland
Mr. Marco Graziotto, Director of Promintergroup AG, Director Arctic Bulk, Italy
Mr Yuri Sekretev, Director of Representative office in Russia, Promintergroup AG and Director of Arctic Bulk AG, Russia
15.30 COFFEE BREAK
16.00 ARCTIC STARTUPS – NEW ENTREPRENEURSHIP CREATES GROWTH
Mr. Kustaa Valtonen, Entrepreneur & Angel Investor, Finland
Mr. Marko Alamartimo, Business Advisor, Growth and International Business at Business Rovaniemi, Finland
Mr. Markus Pellikka, CEO, Santa Water Group, Finland
Mr. Antti Haukipuro, CEO, Suvanto Care, Finland
Mr. Kaj Kostiander, Director, Tornio Brewery, Finland
Ms. Sirly Schinmann, Chef and owner at Aurora Estate – Boutique Hotel and Restaurant, Finland
9.30 OPENING SESSION OF THE 2nd DAY
Mr. Timo Vuori, Executive Director at ICC Finland and Executive Vice President Finland Chamber of Commerce, Finland
Mrs. Mirva Antila, Country General Manager, IBM Finland
10.15 COFFEE BREAK
10.45 COMPETITIVENESS IN THE ARCTIC BUSINESS
Mr. Tomi Seppä, Vice President, Kemi Board and Pulp Mill at Metsä Group, Finland
Mrs. Tuula Untinen, Manager-Logistics Services, Outokumpu Stainless Oy, Finland
Mr. Andreas Lind, Business and Development Director, County Administrative Board of Norrbotten, Sweden
Mr. Robert Hess, Vice Chairman, Global Strategy Team Leader, Newmark Global Corporate Services, United States
Mr. Kun Zhang, President of TUNGTAI International Holding Group, China
11.55 SIGNING CEREMONY
12.00 NETWORKING LUNCH
13.00 WHAT IS HAPPENING IN THE EUROPEAN ARCTIC
Ms. Anu Fredrikson, Director, Arctic Economic Council
Ms. Satu Luiro, Senior Advisor in Tourism, Creative industries and Culture, Regional Council of Lapland, Finland
Mrs. Jaana Koivumaa, Manager, Hannukainen Mining Oy
Mr. Vladimir Masloboev, Deputy Chairman of the Kola Science Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences, member of the Board of Directors of the Chamber of Commerce & Industry of the Murmansk Region, Russia
Ms. Clara Dumard, CEO Vaimiti Events – Nautical events in the Arctic, France
Mr. Christian Dumard, CEO – founder at Hokulea – Weather Analysis, France
Other Speakers TBC.
15.00 END OF PROGRAM IN KEMI CULTURAL CENTER
15.15 VISIT TO THE SNOWCASTLE OF KEMI
Duration: 30–45 minutes
Address: LumiLinnankatu, 94100 Kemi
Registration for the visit to the SnowCastle of Kemi at the same time as you will register to the Arctic Business Forum at Kemi Culture Centre. Distance to the SnowCastle from the venue for Arctic Business Forum is approx. 1 kilometer. One guided tour will have 15–20 visitors. Free pass to the tour is for everyone attending the Arctic Business Forum. Welcome to explore the beautiful SnowCastle of Kemi!
NordenBladet — Yemen is currently facing the worst man-made humanitarian crisis in the world. Following three years of armed conflict, 75 percent of the population, 22.2 million people, are in urgent need of humanitarian aid. Two million Yemenites have been forced to flee internally and are thus in even greater need of help in their homeland.
“It is almost impossible to understand the extent of the sufferings in Yemen. Starving mothers are trying to save their starving children while the civil war is raging. Further, the warring parties frequently put obstacles in the way so that emergency aid cannot reach those who need it the most. I am pleased that Denmark is contributing with DKK 70 million so we can continue to help to the vulnerable civilian population in Yemen,” says Minister for Development Cooperation Ulla Tørnæs.
Last year, the UN and its humanitarian partners succeeded in delivering emergency aid to 10 million people in Yemen despite hostilities and difficult humanitarian access. In 2017, Denmark provided direct humanitarian support to the Yemen crisis for a total of DKK 219 million.
8.4 million people are facing famine and around 1.8 million children and more than 1 million pregnant women or nursing mothers suffer from acute malnutrition. In addition, Yemen is affected by a cholera outbreak where more than 1 million people are presumed to have been infected within the last year.
The latest Danish funding allocation for Yemen is dispersed with DKK 35 million for the World Food Programmes efforts to prevent famine and with DKK 35 million for the UN’s Humanitarian Country-Based Pooled Fund, which supports and coordinates life-saving relief efforts.
By 2018 humanitarian needs have increased due to, among other things, the blockade of the main Yemeni ports in November and December 2017 that reduced the level of emergency aid and commercial imports of food and fuel, leading to immense price increases and a deterioration of food security. Only half of the country’s health facilities function and 16 million people lack access to clean water and sanitation facilities, which increases the risk of disease spreading.
In addition to the latest contribution, Denmark is also donating DKK 100 million on a yearly basis to the UN’s Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF). In the beginning of 2018, the UN’s Emergency Relief Coordinator allocated a record amount of USD 50 million from the UN’s Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) to the humanitarian efforts in Yemen in light of the escalating crisis. With its annual non-earmarked contribution to UN’s Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), Denmark is thus contributing indirectly to humanitarian funds allocated to Yemen.
NordenBladet — In the first round of allocation of funding this year, Finland granted EUR 67 million to humanitarian aid organisations by decision of Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Anne-Mari Virolainen. The funding will be channelled via principal UN specialised agencies, the Red Cross Movement, and six Finnish civil society organisations.
The regional focus of Finland’s humanitarian assistance remains in Africa (EUR 12.5 million) and the Middle East (EUR 17.3 million). The biggest amount of funding is channelled to fighting the acute difficult humanitarian crisis in Syria (EUR 12.6 million). Finland will attend the pledging conferences to be held in April, which will in addition to Syria deal with the difficult humanitarian crises in Yemen (Finland’s support is EUR 3 million) and the Democratic Republic of Congo (EUR 1.9 million). Additionally, support will be channelled to Iraq (EUR 1.8 million), Somalia (EUR 3.1 million) and South Sudan (EUR 3.5 million).
The biggest recipients are the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) with EUR 15.5 million, the World Food Programme (WFP) with EUR 13 million, and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) with EUR 10.7 million. The Finnish CSOs receiving support are the Finnish Red Cross, Finn Church Aid, Save the Children Finland, Plan Finland, World Vision Finland, and Fida International. A significant part of Finland’s humanitarian assistance – EUR 34.5 million in all – is channelled in the form of completely unearmarked core funding in order to speed up the delivery and enhance the effectiveness of emergency assistance.
“The global humanitarian situation continues to be difficult also this year. For people living in the middle of crises and natural disasters, humanitarian assistance is critical. In cooperation with key partners and as a part of the international humanitarian response, Finland’s assistance can help these people as effectively and reliably as it is possible,” Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Anne-Mari Virolainen emphasizes.
NordenBladet – Who wouldn’d like homemade food and drinks, freshly from the oven pies and cakes. Our family has already been pampered with these, since my 11-year-old daughter Estella Elisheva is kind of a hobby-baker and is always preparing something while not at school, music school or training.
Best of all she likes to prepare salty and sweet cookies (cakes, pies, croissants), to experiment with various interesting sweet dishes (yoghurt ice cream, yoghurt dessert, curd cream etc.) and then again at times she prepares the everyday dishes. Just recently she prepared pasta with eggs and Irish casserole. I do not even need to mention fresh smoothies – those she began to mix already in kindergarten.
And now a little about my individual activities… Peppermint tea is among our family’s favourites, thus in the coming year I intend to expand our so-called peppermint plantation and add 4 new kinds of peppermint that I plan to duplicate (you can read about my experience with gathering and drying of herbs HERE). At the moment the ground is still frozen, but as soon as the night cold have passed I will set up new plants. Right now the plants are inside in the boxes. Also, I plan to design a strawberry-bed for the children. A few years ago we had extensive strawberry-beds, but I removed them since there was no time to deal with everything – there were too many other things to accomplish. My garden is half a hectare, I have a large household, small children, a job in Scandinavia’s fastest growing media group NordenBladet (read about Scandinvian media groups HERE), that also accommodates all OHMYGOSSIP-sites and various brand developments. I am working on the last of these as a volunteer and extra to the work hours and work days that I spend on those purposes, I also invest a significant amount of my own finances to preserve the Scandinavian cultural heritage and make it known in Scandinavia as well as other parts of the world. I value culture as well as quality media and I so wish that media could serve as reflection of the truth and a means of education. Something that would create a positive feeling, be didactic and motivate to become a better person and see bigger picture.
My elder daughter Estella Elisheva regularly keeps an eye on my posts and oftentimes tells me: „Mommy, don’t put that much advertisement text there, people would just skip it.“ But for me it is not advertising – it is conveying the truth – i wish that people would grasp the world at large, I wish that the Northern countries would maintain their mysterious atmosphere and I wish that people would omit committing suicide. I wish that there would be alleviation for depression and that people would think kindly about nature, about animals and which is the most difficult – about their nearest and dearest. It might sound a bit shallow – but I really hope for it. I really do hope for it – more than wealth, property, glory or other goods of the society.
The mission of NordenBladet is to sustain and elevate the Northern cultural heritage and to pass along the traditions and values, build networks, design a better future for the citizens of Northern countries, to distribute knowledge and offer quality information.
Possibly this is the reason why we are so successful that we put our heart into what we do – we do not chase statistics, we aim for content. The areas that interest us are advancement of the values of welfare society, environment, politics, culture, tourism, education, science, regional collaboration, health, children and family values. Our subpages (OHMYGOSSIP) are furnished with fashion and beauty, relationships and entertainment issues. Also we administrate the blog platforms Bloglist24 and NordicBloggers, that bring together ca 300 000 bloggers.
At times all of this grows and goes on over my head. Yet I feel more and more that I enjoy being in the garden. Not that I particularly enjoy the pursuit of attaining a weedless garden. On the contrary, I find creative mess to be very pleasant and I like the garden when it is wild – I want more of nature. Nature is a perfect alternative at moments when you are off duty and not working intensely. Nature gives you so much – I talk to nature, communicate with it, nature is a friend of mine! I am fond of nature, I would never again prefer an urban apartment. And sometimes I think to myself – would it be too late to study horticulture or biology. I like environmental matters. I want to be close with nature and I want the reader to be close with nature – to advance the love for nature – this is my alternative little mission that I intend to realize through NordenBladet!
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NordenBladet — The free trade agreement between the EU and Japan is expected to stimulate more trade and investments for both Sweden and Japan. A large Swedish business delegation will join the visit to attend the Japan-Sweden Business Summit – the largest ever meeting between the Swedish and Japanese business sectors. Business Sweden is also organising a large number of seminars and meetings aimed at strengthening trade relations between the two countries.
Innovation, research and sustainability will be highlighted. In addition, societal issues such as ageing and violence against children will be raised.
During their stay in Japan, Their Majesties The Emperor and Empress will invite Their Majesties The King and Queen to a dinner. Mr Shinzo Abe, Prime Minister of Japan and Mrs Abe will hold a meeting with Their Majesties The King and Queen and host a dinner in their honour.
NordenBladet — On 1 April, Counsellor for Foreign Affairs Mikko Kinnunen will become the Foreign Ministry’s first Ambassador for Hybrid Affairs.
Mikko Kinnunen transfers to the new position from the Foreign Ministry’s Unit for Security Policy and Crisis Management, where he has served as Director of Unit.
“From the perspective of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, hybrid issues can be related to foreign and security policy, legal and commercial matters, strategic communications, also international cyber security cooperation, for example. In other words, in practice they can be linked with any or all of the activities that the Ministry and its missions abroad are engaged in,” Kinnunen says.
The Ambassador for Hybrid Affairs will build up the Foreign Ministry’s expertise in hybrid issues and help raise Finland’s profile on these issues with the international arena. The Ambassador will work in close cooperation with different authorities in Finland and support their involvement in international cooperation. The European Centre of Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats, which was established in Helsinki last year, is naturally a key partner for the new Ambassador.
Hybrid warfare and the use of influence-seeking hybrid methods have attracted wide attention both in Finland and internationally. Finland, too, is a target of hybrid attacks and activities, and it has strengthened its capacity to detect and respond to hybrid threats.
“Hybrid methods are a new way of seeking to influence our security, and we must respond to these effectively,” says Minister for Foreign Affairs Timo Soini.
Dealing with hybrid issues is part of the work of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and the network of Finnish missions abroad. This can involve detecting the use of hybrid attacks and activities targeting Finland, tackling these and taking part in international cooperation on hybrid issues.
Mikko Kinnunen has extensive experience of security policy and matters related to Russia and the former Soviet area. He has served as Finland’s Ambassador to Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, and worked in the Embassies of Finland in Moscow and Washington and the Permanent Mission of Finland to the UN in New York.
NordenBladet — Mikko Hautala, Ambassador of Finland to Russia, was notified of the matter by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation on 30 March in Moscow. Russia has announced corresponding measures also against many other countries that have expelled Russian diplomats.
The expulsion of the Finnish diplomat is Russia’s response to the decision of Finland, made on Monday 26 March, to expel one official with a diplomatic status from the Embassy of Russia in Helsinki following the Salisbury nerve agent attack. Russia’s decision is not related to the activities of the Finnish diplomat. The Finnish diplomat must leave Russia within two weeks.
The identity of the diplomat who is to leave Russia is not public information. The Ministry for Foreign Affairs will not provide further information about this matter.
