NordenBladet — The informal meeting of the EU Foreign Ministers (Gymnich) will be held in Sofia on 15-16 February. Finland’s representative in the meeting will be Minister for Foreign Affairs Timo Soini. The topics on the agenda are North Korea, security and defence, the Western Balkans and Syria.
In the talks about North Korea the focus will be on recent events and the EU policy on North Korea.
The ministers will also discuss the situation in Western Balkans on the basis of the Commission strategy concerning the Western Balkans. The discussion on Syria will take place in light of recent developments in the country and preparations relating to the envisaged EU Conference on Syria.
The tradition is that the Foreign Ministers of the EU candidate countries (Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Turkey) attend some of the sessions of the informal meeting. In Sofia they will participate in the talks about security and defence issues.
NordenBladet — The Ministry for Foreign Affairs appointed Helena Liikanen-Renger to serve as Press Officer at the Embassy of Finland in Washington, starting on 1 June 2018. The post will be a fixed-term appointment ending on 31 May 2021.
Helena Liikanen-Renger will transfer to the United States from France, where she is currently working as a freelancer journalist and writer. She gained experience of the media in the United States while she attended a Master’s programme in specialised journalism in California.
Helena Liikanen-Renger has worked as a journalist in both the printed and electronic media for twenty years. Her career includes working as a news editor and producer. She specialises in social media Liikanen-Renger holds a Master of Social Sciences degree and a Master’s degree in specialised journalism.
Her strengths include a long and diverse experience of communications as well as a fresh perspective to the content of her new tasks. The Press Officer is responsible for the embassy’s external communications, social media, and media relations. In addition, she will be in charge of the Finland programmes targeted to the US Congress and of the overall coordination of contacts with the Congress. The tasks will include country brand work and media arrangements related to visits at political level and visits by opinion-makers. The Press Officer is the embassy’s communications team leader.
NordenBladet — An International Conference of Iraq Reconstruction and Development will be held in Kuwait from 12 to 14 February. The World Bank, the UN and the EU have supported the making of reconstruction plans for Iraq which will be published at the conference. Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Anne-Mari Virolainen will attend the high-level segment of the conference on 14 February.
The wars have caused immense destruction in Iraq and, therefore, also the reconstruction needs are massive. Because of the war against ISIL and earlier conflicts, a large part of the country is in ruins. As a rich oil producing country Iraq is able to do a great deal with its own assets but it also needs external help. As a result of conflicts and the downturn trend in global oil prices, Iraq’s revenues from oil production are only a fraction of what they were before.
Iraq belongs to Europe’s neighbouring areas and its future development will therefore affect also Finland. It is important for Finland that Iraq’s internal situation and security stabilise and democracy will be established and developed further. In addition to reconstruction, Iraq will need help to improve its humanitarian situation, stabilise the areas recaptured from ISIL as soon as possible and carry out mine clearing, among other things.
The conference in Kuwait will place special focus on the ratio of private sector investments in reconstruction. The Finnish Delegation to the conference will consist of, for example, Finnfund and a number of companies. Iraq is a long-standing and traditional business partner for Finland, and the reconstruction process will open significant business opportunities for Finnish companies.
Since 2014, Finland has used close to EUR 18 million from development cooperation appropriations to support Iraq. The support has been allocated for humanitarian aid, stabilisation of the areas recaptured from ISIL and humanitarian mine action.
NordenBladet — Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Kai Mykkänen adopted a decision of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs to grant EUR 206.8 million to Finnish civil society organisations (CSOs) for development cooperation programmes to be carried out in 2018–2021.The funding is directed to 22 programmes. The five biggest recipients are Finn Church Aid, the Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Mission, Fida International, Plan Finland, and the Finnish Red Cross.
All the 22 organisations have received funding from the Foreign Ministry also before. Half of them were granted more funding than previously, six of them were granted the same amount of funding than in 2017, and funding for five organisations is now smaller than it was in 2017.
“The amount of development cooperation appropriations will remain at the same level as in 2017. The aim is to channel the funding to work that is as comprehensive and effective as possible. Organisations that reached the best results in the overall assessment of performance will now receive more funding than earlier,” Minister Kai Mykkänen says.
The programmes of the CSOs focus on East Africa, South and Southeast Asia and the Middle East. In Africa, the organisations’ biggest partner countries are Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia, Somalia, Tanzania and South Sudan, where they often work among the poorest people and communities in order to increase people’s opportunities for employment and livelihoods and for education and health care services. This aims to reduce inequality in societies.
In many programmes, the beneficiaries are refugees and their host communities. On the other hand, the work addresses the root causes of migration, such as poverty, lack of prospects, and challenges related to disaster resilience. The recipients include organisations that have expertise in conflict resolution and promotion of democracy. The programmes also enhance sustainable management of natural resources. Climate change is taken into account in all activities.
Programmes are implemented in cooperation with local partners in order to strengthen civil society actors’ capacity to promote human rights. Additionally, public sector actors are supported in their task as duty bearers in the implementation of human rights and the provision of public services. The organisations work mainly in challenging environments. In many countries, the space for civil society has been shrinking, making it difficult for CSOs to operate.
Programme-based support is the main form of funding granted by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs for the development cooperation activities of CSOs. This is the first time that all the 22 organisations applied for discretionary government transfer simultaneously and for four years at a time. The Ministry aims to organise an open call for proposals for programme-based support in 2021. The Ministry for Foreign Affairs also grants discretionary government transfers for individual projects carried out by small and medium-sized organisations.
NordenBladet — As a part of its 100th anniversary, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs will present its activities in various public events to be organised in different parts of the country. On 13 February, a public event will be organised in Pori.
The topics of the event will be the Baltic Sea and the Foreign Ministry’s consular services. Ambassadors Erja Tikka and Petri Salo and Counsellor Virpi Kankare will speak at the event. The event will be held on Tuesday, 13 February, at 12.00 noon in the University Consortium of Pori on Pohjoisranta 11 A.
NordenBladet — The Ministry for Foreign Affairs has granted EUR 4,295,000 to international non-governmental organisations for 2018–2020. Non-governmental organisations are partners engaged in international dialogue and exercise of influence, complementing the range of Finland’s foreign and developmet policy instruments taking into account the objectives of the Government Report on Development Policy and the Human Rights Strategy of the Foreign Service of Finland.
The thematic focus areas are prevention of discrimination and promotion of women’s and girls’ right to health. The funding covers the implementation of 3 projects.
For the prevention of discrimination, support was granted to two projects, one that advances the rights of persons with disabilities and another that addresses the rights of sexual minorities:
International Disability Alliance, Ensuring the realization of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (EUR 1,500,000)
International Lesbian Gay Association, Empowering LGBTI Human Rights Defenders in Global South to Advocate Effectively at the UN and National Levels Against Discrimination Based on Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Gender Expression, and Sex Characteristics (EUR 1,500,000)
For the promotion of women’s and girls’ right to health, support was granted to one project:
World Young Women’s Christian Association, Promoting the Realization of the Right to Health for Young Women and Girls (EUR 1,295,000)
The Foreign Ministry’s support is strategically targeted to expert organisations with a broad regional and global organisational basis and impact. The organisations share their expertise and conduct advocacy work on international forums. They also significantly contribute to the promotion of human rights and equality in Finland’s partner countries at grassroots level.
NordenBladet — The Foreign Ministry will invite CSOs to submit proposals for funding development communications and global education projects in 2018, like before.
Last autumn, the Ministry studied if it was possible to transfer the management of the support under the administration of the Finnish National Agency for Education. In that case the funding could have been applied by the organisers of education, and these organisations would have become partners of cooperation in the projects to be funded.
The Foreign Ministry also consulted CSOs and explored other options for the development of the form of support. Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Kai Mykkänen noted that the reform will not be implemented this year but discussion about the reforms and their implementation should be continued. The dates and criteria concerning the Call for Proposals for the period 2019–2020 will be informed later.
NordenBladet — Minister for Nordic Cooperation Anne Berner will attend a meeting of the Ministers for Nordic Cooperation in Stockholm on 8 February 2018. This is the first meeting of the year during Sweden’s Presidency of the Nordic Council of Ministers.
Ministers are expected to decide about the budget proposal for 2019 and about some of the projects under the Arctic Cooperation Programme.
The Ministers for Nordic Cooperation will also discuss the study of Nordic legislative cooperation, commissioned by the Nordic Council of Ministers, and handle the Freedom of Movement Council’s report on 2017.
NordenBladet — The Ministry for Foreign Affairs has granted EUR 4,295,000 to international non-governmental organisations for 2018–2019. Non-governmental organisations are partners engaged in international dialogue and exercise of influence, complementing the range of Finland’s foreign and security policy instruments taking into account the objectives of the Government Report on Development Policy and the Human Rights Strategy of the Foreign Service of Finland.
The thematic focus areas are prevention of discrimination and promotion of women’s and girls’ right to health. The funding covers the implementation of 3 projects.
For the prevention of discrimination, support was granted to two projects, one that advances the rights of persons with disabilities and another that addresses the rights of sexual minorities:
International Disability Alliance, Ensuring the realization of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (EUR 1,500,000)
International Lesbian Gay Association, Empowering LGBTI Human Rights Defenders in Global South to Advocate Effectively at the UN and National Levels Against Discrimination Based on Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Gender Expression, and Sex Characteristics (EUR 1,500,000)
For the promotion of women’s and girls’ right to health, support was granted to one project:
World Young Women’s Christian Association, Promoting the Realization of the Right to Health for Young Women and Girls (EUR 1,295,000)
The Foreign Ministry’s support is strategically targeted to expert organisations with a broad regional and global organisational basis and impact. The organisations share their expertise and conduct advocacy work on international forums. They also significantly contribute to the promotion of human rights and equality in Finland’s partner countries at grassroots level.
NordenBladet — The Ministry for Foreign Affairs has granted EUR 370,000 in discretionary government transfers to 15 civil society organisations’ (CSOs) Europe information. The total number of supported projects is 18.
Discretionary government transfers are granted to CSOs in order to raise awareness of the European Union in Finland. CSOs play an important role in increasing knowledge and understanding of these matters and in promoting discussion related to the EU. The transfers strengthen CSOs’ Europe information and improve the citizens’ basic knowledge of questions related to the European Union and Finland’s membership of the EU.
In the application round 2018, the following matters were prioritised: the future of the EU and its significance to Finland; Brexit; economic and trade policies; the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU); and the EU’s Common Foreign and Security Policy, including defence. Emphasis was also put on young people’s opportunities in the EU and on the advantages and disadvantages of the EU membership.
During the application round, the focus was on the different aspects of communications, such as multiple channels, effectiveness of communications, and as wide dissemination as possible and accessibility of the produced material to the general public in particular. The contents produced by projects must be available to everyone, free of charge. The amount of discretionary government transfers granted to each project was between EUR 15,000 and EUR 50,000. The aim with this was to make it possible for CSOs to undertake more effective projects that would take account of the requirements set by the changed communications environment.
By the deadline set by the Ministry, a total of 43 organisations submitted applications for 52 projects. The one-year transfer is meant for the dissemination of information in Finland. The
Ministry for Foreign Affairs has granted discretionary government transfers to the following CSOs:
Attac Finland
Democratic Civic Association
European Movement in Finland
JEF Finland
European Youth Parliament Finland
Kansan Radioliitto
Kehys, Finnish NGDO Platform to the EU
Finnish Association of the Deaf
Union for Rural Culture and Education
Open Knowledge Finland
Peace Education Institute
SaferGlobe Finland
Finnish Youth Cooperation – Allianssi
SOSTE, Finnish Federation for Social Affairs and Health
UN Association of Finland