NordenBladet — The advance voting period for the 2021 municipal elections will begin in Finland on Wednesday 26 May and last for two weeks. The final day for advance voting is Tuesday 8 June.There will be a total of 930 general advance polling stations in Finland. They are mainly located at town halls, libraries and shopping centres. Many municipalities will also provide a possibility for advance voting outdoors, for example in tents and other shelters. A possibility for drive-in voting will also be provided in some municipalities. A list of the outdoor polling stations is available on the Electionsfinland.fi website.Abroad, advance voting will be arranged between 2 and 5 June. There will be more than a hundred advance polling stations abroad, located at Finnish diplomatic or consular missions or their offices in over 70 different countries. Some of the advance polling stations will be open only on certain days during the advance voting period. Eligible voters staying abroad during the elections may also vote by post.Information on the advance polling stations, candidates and candidate numbers is available on the Electionsfinland.fi website.Election day is Sunday 13 June. On election day, voters may only vote at the polling station mentioned on the polling card sent to them before the elections, whereas during the advance voting period, voters may cast their vote at any of the general advance polling stations in Finland or abroad.Instructions on safe voting during COVID-19The Electionsfinland.fi website contains instructions for voters on safe voting in the municipal elections during the COVID-19 pandemic.Voters must wear a face mask or covering, use hand sanitiser and stay two metres away from others at the polling station. Election officials will monitor safety at the polling stations and advise voters on how to follow the instructions. Voters may bring their own pen to the polling station if they so wish.Special measures have been planned to enable voters placed in quarantine or isolation by a doctor or having respiratory symptoms to vote. Voters can contact the central municipal election board of their municipality to ask about these special arrangements.  Eligible voters in municipal electionsPeople who reach the age of 18 years on election day at the latest have the right to vote in the municipal elections in their municipality of residence. In addition to Finnish citizens, those citizens of EU Member States, Iceland and Norway who have a municipality of residence in Finland are also entitled to vote. Other foreign citizens are entitled to vote if they have had a municipality of residence in Finland for at least two years.The Digital and Population Data Services Agency sends a notice of right to vote (polling card) to all eligible voters. A list of advance polling stations close to the eligible voter’s place of residence and instructions on safe voting during the COVID-19 epidemic are enclosed to the notice.The notices of right to vote are sent by post. The notice is sent in electronic format to those eligible voters who have activated the Suomi.fi Messages service and given their consent for all official notifications to be sent to them electronically.Proof of identityVoters must present some form of official photo ID when voting, for example a passport, an identity card or a driving licence. The old cardboard driving licence will also be accepted as proof of identity, if the voter can be identified from the photo and the election official can thus reliably verify the voter’s identity. Voters who do not have a valid proof of identity can obtain a temporary identity card free of charge from the police for voting purposes.Election officials may ask voters to briefly remove their face mask to verify their identity.Information about municipal elections is available through many channels and in several languagesThe Electionsfinland.fi website provides information about municipal elections in many languages (Finnish, Swedish, Skolt Sámi, Inari Sámi, North Sámi, and the Finnish and Finland-Swedish Sign Languages, and several most used foreign languages, such as English, Estonian and Russian). In addition, the YouTube channel of the Ministry of Justice contains videos on voting in easy-to-understand language and sign language. Brochures in easy-to-read Finnish and Swedish are also available.Follow voter turnout onlineThe Electionsfinland.fi website will also provide real-time information on the voter turnout during the advance voting period. Information on the number of advance voters in each municipality and in the entire country will be updated on the website every hour during the advance voting period.

Source: Valtioneuvosto.fi

NordenBladet — Human rights defenders play an important role in strengthening democracy-building and in supporting sustainable development. At the same time, however, human rights defenders continue to be subjected to sanctions, which are getting even tighter. The shrinking space of civil society and restrictions on freedom of expression threaten the position of human rights defenders. At an event in April, Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto exchanged views with women human rights defenders (WHRDs). Phil Lynch, Memory Bandera, Marinel Ubaldo, Hina Jilani and Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto.Finland has supported transparent consultations with human rights defenders. For example, during the Finnish Presidency of the Council of the European Union in 2019, Foreign Minister Haavisto invited civil society representatives to tell about their views in connection with the informal Gymnich meeting.On 28 April, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs together with Amnesty International Finland and Finnish NGO Foundation for Human Rights KIOS organised a virtual panel discussion on the work of human rights defenders. In the debate, moderated by Executive Director Phil Lynch from the International Service for Human Rights (ISHR), leading WHRDs from the Philippines, Uganda and Pakistan shared their experiences and views of the work done by human rights defenders. They also submitted their recommendations on support for human rights defenders to Minister Haavisto.
 Human rights defenders work in difficult conditions
 

Source: Valtioneuvosto.fi

NordenBladet — Finland’s digital COVID-19 vaccination certificate will be available in the My Kanta pages as of 26 May. However, not all users will able to view their vaccination certificate on the launch date.The COVID-19 vaccination certificates will be available in stages because it can take some time before vaccination information is updated in the My Kanta Pages as data in different patient information systems is being corrected retrospectively.Some healthcare organisations may not be able to make the necessary changes to their patient information systems before the launch date of the Finnish COVID-19 vaccination certificate. In such cases users will be able to view their vaccination certificate sometime after the launch date. Inaccurate recording of vaccination information by healthcare providers is another possible reason for a missing vaccination certificate or missing vaccination information in the My Kanta Pages.In the future, users will be able to view their COVID-19 vaccination certificate in the My Kanta Pages within five days of vaccination. Five days is the maximum time limit for transferring data to the Kanta Services under the Decree on Patient Documents.Finland’s COVID-19 vaccination certificate, available in the My Kanta Pages, will contain information of the COVID-19 vaccinations received by the certificate holder. The Finnish certificate can be used only when crossing the border to an EU Member State that accepts it as proof of COVID-19 vaccination. Each EU Member State can decide whether a national vaccination certificate entitles the holder to cross their border. Therefore, the Finnish certificate does not mean that its holder can travel freely everywhere in the EU. As a rule, people should avoid travelling, as the epidemic situation varies across countries. Before travelling, people should always check the COVID-19 situation in their destination and, before returning home, they should check the situation in Finland and take care to follow the latest recommendations.People can use the Finnish vaccination certificate until the EU COVID-19 certificate /Digital Green Certificate) comes available.EU COVID-19 certificate due in JulyAs of July, people in Finland will be able to use the EU COVID-19 certificate, called the Digital Green Certificate, which will cover three types of certificates: vaccination certificates, test certificates and certificates for persons who have recovered from COVID-19. The three certificate types will be launched at the same time, and they will be available in the My Kanta Pages. Once the Digital Green Certificate is available in Finland, it will replace the Finnish vaccination certificate.The EU COVID-19 certificate will be available across the EU once the Regulation on interoperable certificates on vaccination, testing and recovery (Digital Green Certificate) enters into force and all the Member States have implemented it. The regulation is expected to enter into force on 30 June, and the Member States have six weeks to implement it. This may mean that not all Member States will be able to issue and read certificates at the same time.Finland, too, must be able to issue and read Digital Green Certificates within six weeks of the entry into force of the EU regulation. Finland along with other EU Member States can allow border crossing for holders of other kinds of COVID-19 certificates. However, people must always check before travelling what kinds of certificates are required in their destination.EU Member States must inform other Member States and the European Commission if they require certificate holders to undergo testing or quarantine or if they deny entry to a certificate holder.The purpose of the Digital Green Certificate is to facilitate free movement. Member States decide themselves if they want to use the certificate for other purposes.How to get your vaccination certificate from My Kanta PagesFinland’s COVID-19 vaccination certificate will be available in the My Kanta pages as of 26 May. The EU’s Digital Green Certificate, too, will be available in the My Kanta Pages at a later date.How to get your vaccination certificate:Log on to your My Kanta Pages at kanta.fi using the identification token of your choice, such as online banking codes or mobile certificate.Select COVID-19 certificate from the left-hand menu. There is also a link to the certificate section on the front page of My Kanta Pages.To get your certificate click on the link “Check if you have a COVID-19 vaccination certificate (pdf)”. If you have a vaccination certificate, it will open in a new tab in pdf format.The Finnish COVID-19 vaccination certificate is only available on the My Kanta Pages. If you do not use the My Kanta Pages and you do not authorise anyone to use it on your behalf, you can ask your healthcare provider to give you a similar certificate of your COVID-19 vaccination.When the Digital Green Certificate is launched in July, you can get it from the My Kanta Pages or you can ask your health centre or other healthcare provider to print it out for you. 

Source: Valtioneuvosto.fi

NordenBladet — The Prime Minister’s Office will continue the Behavioural Advisory project launched in October 2020, which experiments in practice with the application of behavioural data in managing the COVID-19 crisis. The aim of the follow-up project is to strengthen the capacity of the central government to apply behavioural data more extensively in different policy areas.Although the project has focused on the application of behavioural research data, its participatory approach emphasising knowledge-based decision-making serves as an encouraging example of how research data can be applied more generally to decision-making in public administration. So far, the project has aimed to develop new operating models for the application of research data in decision-making and to experiment with human-oriented influencing methods. For example, behavioural science expertise has been used to support the planning and implementation of communications about COVID-19.“Experiences from the project have been promising and have supported the view that there is a real need for a behavioural perspective to support governance and decision-making. Our goal is to increase behavioural understanding and expertise in the central government while also finding solutions that support functionality and wellbeing in people’s everyday lives,” says Maarit Lassander, who has been appointed Project Manager for the follow-up project. A health psychologist with a Clinical Doctorate in Psychology and an MSc in Political Science, Maarit Lassander has previously worked as a project manager at MIELI Mental Health Finland, as a project coordinator at the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare and as a researcher at the London School of Economics and Political Science and at the University of London.The working group for the Behavioural Advisory project includes representatives from a variety of disciplines within the behavioural sciences, such as social psychology, psychology, behavioural economics and health economics. The members of the working group are Doctoral Researcher in Social Psychology Matti Heino (University of Helsinki), Senior Lecturer Markus Kanerva (Laurea University of Applied Sciences), Psychologist Ville Ojanen, PhD (Academy of Brain Oy) and Academy Research Fellow Lauri Sääksvuori (Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare). The project steering group consists of Director General Seppo Määttä, Chair (Prime Minister’s Office), Director of Government Communications Päivi Anttikoski (Prime Minister’s Office), Head of Unit Katju Holkeri (Ministry of Finance), Director Pasi Pohjola (Ministry of Social Affairs and Health), Head of Unit Susanna Siitonen (Ministry of Justice), Research Director Pilvikki Absetz (University of Eastern Finland) and PhD Tiina Likki (freelance). The project will continue until the end of December 2022. Behavioural expertise has been used in a number of countries, both in Europe and elsewhere, to support decision-making and communication related to the COVID-19 crisis, especially during the second wave. It has also been used to ensure a smooth rollout of COVID-19 vaccinations. International studies have shown that behavioural science can help support vaccine willingness and promote the effective progress of vaccinations, among other benefits. 

Source: Valtioneuvosto.fi

NordenBladet — Portugal, which currently holds the Presidency of the Council of the EU, has invited the EU health ministers to a videoconference to be held on Thursday 20 May. Minister of Family Affairs and Social Services Krista Kiuru will represent Finland at the conference.The ministers will discuss current issues related to COVID-19 vaccines and the EU’s preparedness to procure vaccines in 2022 and 2023. The Portuguese Presidency has also requested the ministers to give an overview of the situation with COVID-19 variants in each country.  The conference will also be attended by representatives of the European Commission, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and the European Medicines Agency (EMA).

Source: Valtioneuvosto.fi

NordenBladet — Despite its openness to trade and investment, Finland lags behind the other Nordic countries and Baltic countries as a destination for foreign investments. In 2019, foreign direct investment (FDI) to Finland accounted for 31% of GDP – less than in 2010 and well below the 49% average in the peer countries.This is the conclusion of the OECD’s report “The Impact of Regulation on International Investment in Finland,” published on 19 May 2021. The report compares Finland’s regulatory landscape with that of its Nordic and Baltic peers and identifies potential bottlenecks. In its report, the OECD proposes a number of targeted measures to streamline regulation and improve the business environment.As national regulation can increase the costs of conducting business, in some cases it influences investors’ choice of where to invest, according to the OECD.  The OECD report recommends that Finland continues to improve its country image and develop digital solutions that reduce companies’ administrative burden. The implementation of digital solutions would require coordination between different operators as well as more resources. Permit procedures related to business activities should also be developed to make them less lengthy.The report also recommends that foreign-owned companies should become more actively involved in the reform of business regulation. Impact assessment of regulations should be developed further. In its report, the OECD also recommends that Finland makes more effort to attract foreign companies, including to its different regions and further increase dialogue with foreign-owned companies operating here.Finland has already recognised some of the bottlenecks described in the report. For example, the Talent Boost programme to attract international experts to Finland includes ongoing reforms that will speed up the residence permit procedure and improve access to language studies. The Government’s objective is to increase work-based immigration by 50,000 people by 2030.According to the OECD report, Finland benefits from FDI in many ways. Although foreign-owned companies accounted for slightly over 1% of all companies operating in Finland in 2019, they generated almost a quarter of the total turnover and employed 18% of the workforce. Foreign companies accounted for almost one-third of research and development expenditure. Foreign companies also open doors for the Finnish economy to global production networks and international markets.

Source: Valtioneuvosto.fi

NordenBladet — Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto will attend the Arctic Council Ministerial meeting on 19–20 May in Reykjavik.The meeting will mark the end of the two-year Icelandic Chairmanship. The priorities of its Chairmanship programme have been protection of the Arctic marine environment, green energy solutions, and strengthening of the Arctic Council. The Icelandic Chairmanship has also explored solutions to the challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic for the Arctic region and developed the cooperation with members of the Arctic Council that have observer status.The Reykjavik Ministerial will adopt the Icelandic Chairmanship’s final declaration (Reykjavik Declaration) and a strategic programme for the Arctic Council until 2030.At this meeting, Iceland will hand over the two-year Chairmanship to the Russian Federation.

Source: Valtioneuvosto.fi

NordenBladet — EU foreign affairs ministers will hold an informal video conference on Tuesday 18 May. Finland’s representative at the meeting will be Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto.The informal meeting of EU foreign ministers will discuss the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Territory and especially the upsurge of violence in May 2021. The focus will be on the Israel–Gaza conflict. The clashes between population groups, which have broken out in various parts of the country, will also be discussed.Finland considers that the objective must be to reach a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas and to stop the violence. From Finland’s point of view, primary importance should be placed on the protection of civilians and delivery of humanitarian assistance. The escalation of the conflict must be stopped. Finland considers that the EU should support efforts to resolve the conflict by using all possible means to exert influence on the parties to the conflict and to help reach a ceasefire.

Source: Valtioneuvosto.fi

NordenBladet — Statement by H.E. Mr. Jukka Salovaara, Ambassador, Permanent Representative of Finland to the United Nations, New York, 16 May 2021Mr. President,Finland aligns itself with the statement by the European Union.The grave escalation in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including the major upsurge in violence in and around Gaza, must stop. A ceasefire needs to be implemented without any delay in order to avoid further casualties and making this conflict even more difficult to solve.We need now determined actions by both Israeli and Palestinian leaders. Instead of use of force, we need to see negotiations between the parties of the conflict. In this situation, it is also important that the Security Council can act according to its mandate and support efforts to maintain international peace and security in the Middle East.   The recent escalation of violence follows days of tension and clashes in Jerusalem, including at the holy sites, and increasing violence in towns in Israel and the West Bank.Finland strongly condemns all violence against civilians, including the indiscriminate firing of rockets into Israel by Hamas and militant groups in the Gaza Strip, directly harming civilians.While Finland recognizes the legitimate right of Israel to protect its citizens against any attacks, Finland underlines that the Israeli military operation must be proportionate and in line with international humanitarian law. Civilians need to be protected at all times. Security belongs to all.The priority in the conflict at hand must be to protect all civilians and in particular children. All efforts should be directed at avoiding civilian casualties and damage to civilian infrastructure, supporting de-escalation, implementing an immediate ceasefire and ensure safe and unhindered humanitarian access.After the implementation of the ceasefire, we will need actions at the level of religious and political leaders, including community leaders, on both sides. Incitement of hatred and violence needs to be stopped immediately. Human rights, including religious rights of everyone in the region need to be respected by all.This most recent upsurge of violence clearly shows once again that Israel and Palestine should return to negotiations on equal grounds in order to find a permanent solution to their conflict.Finland shares the view that a negotiated two-state solution – based on parameters set out in the EU Council Conclusions of July 2014 – that meets Israeli and Palestinian security needs and Palestinian aspirations for statehood and sovereignty, ends the occupation that began in 1967, and resolves all permanent status issues is the only sustainable way to end the conflict.Israeli settlement activities are illegal under international law and weaken the prospects for a two-state solution.

Source: Valtioneuvosto.fi

NordenBladet — The Foreign Ministry’s campaign is part of the global Generation Equality initiative. Finland is one of the co-leaders of the Action Coalition that is responsible for Technology and Innovation for Gender Equality. As a country that is known for gender equality and technological expertise, Finland can set an example in promoting equality in the tech sector.The Algorithm for Gender Equality campaign, which was launched today, works to advance equality in the tech sector and to achieve this by means of various technological solutions. The purpose of the campaign is to activate discussion and to explore ways for promoting openness, competitiveness and attractiveness of the industry, as well as to inspire girls and women to pursue careers in technology.“The rights of women and girls are at heart of Finland’s human rights policy. The Generation Equality campaign and the Algorithm for Gender Equality offer a unique opportunity to help the tech sector in taking a global leap in equality matters. For this we need the help of all stakeholders,” says Ambassador for Gender Equality Katri Viinikka.In the most recent Global Gender Gap Report, the World Economic Forum estimates that at the current rate, closing the gender gap in economic participation and opportunity worldwide will take another 267 years. In international analyses, the tech sector has been referred to as an example of a field where gender equality is improving exceptionally slowly. On average, women account for less than 35 per cent of people working in the global ICT sector. The needs of women and girls are seldom addressed in innovation activities and, as developers and entrepreneurs in the technology sector, women do not get enough support. Almost three quarters of women online have been exposed to some form of cyber violence.“The COVID-19 pandemic has shaped our everyday life and societies in fundamental ways. Technology offers us now opportunities for green and just recovery. However, it is important to ensure that technology belongs to everybody. During the pandemic, women and girls have experienced more online harassment than before. It is of vital importance that digital environments are safe, to ensure participation of everyone,” says Ambassador for Innovation Jarmo Sareva.The importance and role of technology in our societies is growing all the time. At its best, technology can be a driver of change towards a more equitable world. The Ministry for Foreign Affairs invites all influencers in the technology sector to participate in creating the Algorithm for Gender Equality, in sharing examples of best practices, setting examples, and building a tech sector, society and world where no one is left behind.The Algorithm for Gender Equality is part of the Generation Equality Forum, coordinated by UN Women, which brings together a wide variety of players from around the world.It aims to:Halve the gender gap related to digital literacy and the availability of digital technologies.Increase investment by 50 per cent in technologies and innovations that advance gender equality, thereby supporting female entrepreneurs and developing solutions that meet the needs of women and girls.Double the number of women working in technological fields.Take action against gender-based violence online and technology-facilitated violence and discrimination.Read more about the campaign 

Source: Valtioneuvosto.fi