NordenBladet — The European Union has awarded EUR 20 million to a water resources management project implemented by Finland in Nepal. This is the first time the EU has granted support to a Finnish development cooperation project. The water resources management project based in Far-Western Nepal is expected to enhance the management of water resources, improve the health and access to sanitation of local people and ensure better livelihoods and food security in rural areas. The project’s total budget is EUR 60.2 million, of which Finland will contribute EUR 15 million in 2016–2022. The Nepalese government and end users will contribute a total of EUR 25.2 million. The EUR 20 million of support from the EU will be channelled through Finland.
The project is being implemented in ten districts in two regions. The aim is to improve access to the supply of water and electricity in rural communities and to ensure better food security and livelihood opportunities. Project activities include helping rural communities utilise every drop of water efficiently for various purposes.
In addition to the supply of drinking water, the project supports small-scale irrigation and hydropower systems. Irrigation will help diversify the range of crops grown in domestic gardens and extend the growing season, which will improve farmers’ food security, support a more balanced diet and provide farmers with extra income from the sale of produce. Moreover, project activities will also help communities prepare for catastrophes and climate change.
The first phase of the Rural Village Water Resources Management Project in Far-Western Nepal was launched in 2006 as a bilateral development cooperation project. The current third phase will run until 2022.
The second phase implemented in 2010–2016 was successful. Among other things, it gave 144,000 people in Nepal access to drinking water and improved sanitation for 358,000 people. Small-scale hydropower systems gave 41,000 people access to electricity for the first time ever, irrigation systems helped 28,000 farmers, and 164,000 people set up small gardens, which improved their food security and livelihood and diversified their diet.
The project has also received recognition for its good management. In 2016, it won the Finnish Project Management Association’s annual Project of the Year prize. In 2017, it came second in a project excellence competition organised by the International Project Management Association.
NordenBladet — Finland will assist areas suffering from conflicts and drought in Yemen, Northeast Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Ethiopia. “The focus in our aid decisions towards the end of the year is on crises where the need is currently particularly great and aid is needed urgently”, says Kai Mykkänen, Minister for Foreign Trade and Development.
Millions of people in Yemen, which suffers from war, depend on international aid. Almost one million people have caught cholera after last spring, and the country now faces the worst famine for decades. Finland will direct a total of EUR 2.5 million to Yemen through the UN Refugee Agency UNHCR (EUR 1.5 million) and the World Food Programme WFP (EUR 1 million).
More aid will also be granted for the acute crises in Africa. Finland will support Northeast Nigeria with EUR 1.5 million through the UNHCR. In addition, EUR 750,000 will be directed to Ethiopia through the WFP and EUR 1 million to the Democratic Republic of Congo. In Congo, as many as 3.8 million people have had to flee from conflicts and currently the country has one of the fastest growing humanitarian crises in the world.
In addition, Finland will grant EUR 8 million of general aid for the WFP. The WFP can flexibly decide on allocating general aid, which often improves the cost-efficiency and speed of the aid.
With the new aid, the amount of humanitarian aid that Finland has granted in 2017 will total EUR 81.3 million. Approximately one third of this is general aid, one third directed to humanitarian action in the Middle East and slightly less than one third to Africa. In addition, Finland has supported humanitarian work in Afghanistan, Myanmar, North Korea and Ukraine.Among other things, in thematic issues, Finland has hosted a conference on aid to Syria and promoted the position of the disabled in humanitarian action and the development of flexible forms of funding during this year.The humanitarian situation in the world has deteriorated during 2017. According to the UN’s recent estimates, 136 million people are now in need of humanitarian aid and protection. In spite of the ever-growing need, more aid has been delivered this year than ever before, which has saved millions of lives in different parts of the world.
NordenBladet – There is a lot going on all the time.. I would like to keep you updated with 100% of my ventures, yet I doubt if I have the capacity to reflect on 10% of everything that is going on daily. Here I am facing the dilemma – whether to post blogs more frequently and more briefly or, on the contrary, more seldom but also more exhaustively instead. Which option would you like more?
NordenBladet and the OHMYGOSSIP sites that belong to it are expanding rapidly! Such increase in growth couldn’t have been hoped for in wildest fantasies! Today NordenBladet has an overlapping share of readers with the TOP 10 of Scandinavian media groups (Bonnier, Sanoma, MTG, Schibsted, Egmont, Aller, YLE, Otava, Alma, NordenBladet), being in the social media steadily located in the TOP 5 best Scandinavian editions – the latter position is due to OHMYGOSSIP’s enormous international pool of readers. It is my dream to build NordenBladet into Scandinavia’s #1 newsletter and online journal!
I am well aware that I dream big – however, when one looks at other players on the Scandinavian media scenery then it becomes evident that we are on the right course – NordenBladet (as well as Sanoma and Modern Times Group) when beside other media editions are kiddies with regard to the year of establishment! Bonnier was founded 213 years ago and NordenBladet 5 years ago – the fact that we are already compared alongside one another is a considerable accomplishment in my eyes! Of course, there is still plenty of room for growth, but I feel in my heart that we are on the right track moving upwards and this achievement makes my heart beat faster!
A concise overview of the TOP 10 Scandinavian media groups:
Bonnier – founded 213 years ago Bonnier is a Swedish publishing company established in 1804. The company came to life when Gerhard Bonnier founded a bookstore in Copenhagen. A book publishing company Albert Bonniers Förlag was founded in Stockholm in 1837. In the year 1924 the Bonnier family purchased the majority of the partnership in the Swedish daily newspaper Dagens Nyheter, and in 1929 purchased Ahlen&Akerlund, at that time the largest magazine publishing company. In 1944 Bonnier founded the successful evening paper Expressen. In 1950 Bonnier began publishing comic strips. In 1965 began issuing hobbies related journals. In 1973 the one family company expanded towards the film industry, purchasing the largest Swedish filmmaker SF. In 1976 began the publication of Dagens Industri, a newspaper on the topics of economy, belonging to the Bonnier family. In 1984 Bonnier began publishing Science Illustrated. In 1989 Bonnier launched the newspaper Äripäev. Since 1997 Bonnier has gradually taken up shares in Sweden’s largest television channel TV4, as of today 99% of the shares belong to Bonnier. In 2005 Bonnier purchased the Finnish television channel MTV3 and the radio station Radio Nova. In 2006 Bonnier attained partnership in the U.S. publishing company World Publication which is issuing ca 50 periodicals and runs half a hundred web sites. Nowadays Bonnier is represented in 25 countries, the media group has got shares in the total of 175 companies. Bonnier is to this day a family enterprise.
Sanoma – founded 18 years ago
Established in 1999 Sanoma Oy (until 2008 Sanoma WSOY) is Finland’s largest media group and the second largest in the Nordic countries, active in more than 20 European countries. The company’s headquarters is located in Helsinki and ca 19500 people work for the company. The biggest newspaper in Finland and the Northern countries, Helsingin Sanomat, belongs to this media group. Nelonen Media, also belonging to this group, runs 6 television channels, the most important of them being Nelonen.
Modern Times Group (MTG) – founded 20 years ago
Founded in 1997. Modern Times Group (MTG) is a Swedish media company. MTG was summoned in 1997 by Kinnevik, an investment company hosting various media enterprises, via the assemblance of Viasat and Metro International under the name Modern Times Group. Viasat is made up from a bunch of television channels, including for example TV3 (the first commerce channel in Sweden, launched in 1987), ZTV, Viasat Sport and TV1000. Metro International manages a chain of newspapers delivered free of charge. MTG is issuing shares on the Stockholm stock exchange, referred to by the symbols MTGA and MTGB.
Schibsted – founded 178 years ago
Established in 1839. Schibsted is a Norwegian media group active in 20 countries, mainly Norway and Sweden. It is noted at Oslo’s stock market. In the year 2013 it owned the newspapers Postimees and Õhtuleht in Estonia as well as the television channels Kanal 2 and Kanal 11. In the year 1998 it purchased the newspaper Sõnumileht. Schibsted activities re related with the following areas: printed news, film, publishing, multimedia, mobile services. Schibsted stock is at Oslo’s stock exchange.
Egmont – founded 139 years ago Egmont media group (previously Gutenberghus media group) is a media enterprise founded in Copenhagen in 1878. Egmont Group was founded by Egmont Harald Petersen in the year 1878.
Aller – founded 144 years ago
Established in the year 1873, Aller Media is a Northern media group with the headquarters located in Denmark, Copenhagen. Best known brands from Aller Media are Elle, Cafe, Familie Journlen, Femina, Allers and Se og Hor. Aller Media was established in the year 1873 in Copenhagen by Carl Aller and his wife Laura aller and in the 1890s the company expanded to Sweden and Norway and in 1992 also to Finland.
Yle – 91 years ago Yle (the full name in Finnish is Yleisradio and in Swedish Rundradion Ab) is a Finnish official television- and broadcasting group established in the year 1926. Yle is a broadcasting organization with a lot in common with the British broadcasting BBC, since it has been their example while designing Yle. Yle belongs to the Finnish republic (98,88%). Yle transmits four national television channelds, 13 radio networks and 25 regional radio channels. Finland is an officially bilingual country – ca 5,5% of the Finnish population speaks Swedish as their mother tongue.
Otava – founded 127 years ago Otava (officially Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava) is among Finland’s oldest and largest publishing companies. Otava has published, among others, writings from Eino Leino, Veijo Meri, Marja-Liisa Vartio, Paavo Haavikko, Tuomas Anhava, Mauri Kunnas, Antti Tuuri, Kjell Westö and Laila Hirvisaari (Hietamies). Otava is a public limited company, established in 1890. It is one part of the Otava group (Otava Oy). The editor-in-chief since 2009 is Pasi Vainio. The sales of the publishing company in 2014 was 54,5 M euros, the profit was 7,2 M euros.
Alma – 168 years ago
Established in the year 1849. Alma Media is a media enterprise mainly focussing on digital services and publishing. The best known brands of Alma Media are Aamulehti, Iltalehti, Kauppalehti, Talouselämä Monster.fi and Etuovi.com. About 2400 people work for Alma Media.
NordenBladet – 5 years ago
NordenBladet is the largest readership owning media groups in the Northern countries (over 7 million readers monthly), its headquarters are located in Estonia, Tallinn. Established in 2012 by the owner of international OHMYGOSSIP sites and Scandinavia’s best known blogger and most followed woman in social media Helena-Reet Ennet. Active in 17 countries worldwide, mainly in Estonia, Finland, Sweden, America, England, Brazil and Russia. The best known brands from NordenBladet are NordenBladet, OHMYGOSSIP, OHMYGOSSIPteen, Ohmygossip Couture and Bloglist24.
NordenBladet — Nena Stoiljkovic, Vice President of the International Finance Corporation (IFC), which belongs to the World Bank Group, will visit Helsinki and Vaasa from 14 to 15 December in order to present the Climate Fund (Finland-IFC Blended Finance for Climate Program), which was set up by Finland and IFC in October. The aim of the visit is to give an outline of the Fund’s objectives and activities as well as to tell about the opportunities for cooperation that will open up for Finnish companies.
Finland will channel EUR 114 million into the Fund and is expected to mobilise investments worth a total of approximately EUR 500 million in renewable and clean energy solutions and other climate projects in developing countries.
“Asia and Africa will be critical for climate change. In the cooperation with IFC we intend to encourage more and more companies to invest in clean solutions in the poorest countries. The Finns can provide good solutions and I hope that Finnish companies will take advantage of the opportunities offered by the new Fund and transfer their expertise to poor developing countries,” Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Kai Mykkänen says.
Stoiljkovic will hold a keynote speech in two seminars related to the matter, one in Helsinki and one in Vaasa, and have bilateral meetings with representatives of central Finnish stakeholders. Stoiljkovic will visit Finland on the invitation of Minister Mykkänen.
The events in December will be open for the general public and people are encouraged to engage in a broad discussion on climate funding. Companies, civil society organisations and the public sector are expected to send their representatives to the events. Finland will channel a total of EUR 114 million into the Fund to be invested in projects during the next five years.
This will be the largest funding ever targeted at international climate work in Finland. Shortage of energy is a critical barrier to development for the poorest countries, and the need and consumption of energy are likely to grow rapidly in the future. The aim is that a major part of the needs arising from the growth would be met by means of low-emission energy. By means of thisinvestment decision, Finland supports both the Paris Agreement and the goals of the 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development (SDGs).
NordenBladet —The Ministry for Foreign Affairs has appointed Anna Laine to serve as Press Officer at Finland’s Consulate General in St Petersburg starting on 29 January 2018. The post will be a fixed-term appointment ending on 7 January 2021.
Anna Laine will transfer to the Foreign Ministry from the Finnish Institute in Estonia, where she has been Programme Officer since 2016. Her responsibilities have included culture and projects related to Finland 100 projects.
Laine has wide experience of cultural contexts, gained also from participation in international projects. She has also worked for the press, radio and television. She has a comprehensive network of contacts and a good knowledge of both Finnish and Russian societies. She holds a Bachelor of Culture and Arts degree from a University of Applied Sciences.
The Press Officer’s duty is to use communication, country branding and culture to advance Finland’s objectives among the key target groups in St Petersburg and North-West Russia. The main responsibilities include strengthening of Finland’s visibility and attractiveness and the development of networks and relations between Finland and Russia. Laine will be responsible for the mission’s web communications and social media and for their development.
The Press Officer’s duty is to foster media relations, participate in Team Finland activities, and work in close cooperation with Business Finland and the Finnish Institute in St Petersburg.
NordenBladet — Minister for Foreign Affairs Timo Soini will visit the European Parliament and the Council of Europe in Strasbourg from 12 to 13 December.
During his visit to the European Parliament, Soini will meet President of the European Parliament Antonio Tajani and Chair of the European Parliament Foreign Affairs Committee David McAllister. The topics of discussion during the meetings will be Europe’s future, the UK leaving the EU, and topical foreign policy questions. Additionally, the visit aims to set in motion the preparations for Finland’s next Presidency of the EU to the extent that the relations with the European Parliament are concerned. The programme of the visit also includes meetings with Finnish Members of the European Parliament and with Finnish public servants working there.
At the Council of Europe, the Foreign Minister will have meetings with Secretary General Thorbjørn Jagland and Commissioner for Human Rights Nils Muižnieks as well as other senior representatives of the organisation. In addition, the Minister will have a meeting with Guido Raimond, President of the European Court of Human Rights. The topics of discussions will be current affairs in the Council of Europe and human rights challenges in its member States. Finland’s upcoming Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe (from 21 November 2018 to May 2019) and Finland’s goals during the Chairmanship will also be discussed.
NordenBladet — The EU and Japan finalised their negotiations on a comprehensive Free Trade Agreement on 8 December 2017. The agreement is significant both economically and politically. Together the EU and Japan account for approximately a third of the world’s GNP.
The trade agreement covers a large part of their trade in goods, related regulation and barriers to trade, as well as trade in services. The agreement’s entry into force will immediately remove tariffs on 90 per cent of exports from the EU to Japan. The agreement will make it easier for EU service providers to access Japanese markets in many areas. Instead, a decision was made about continuing negotiations on the protection of investments separately from the Free Trade Agreement.
Barriers to trade in important Finnish exports, such as plastic and chemical industry products, will be lifted immediately after the entry into force of the agreement. Tariffs on wood products will be removed after certain transition periods. The opening of Japan’s foodstuff markets will offer new opportunities for Finnish food exporters.
According to Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Kai Mykkänen, the agreement is good news from the point of view of Finland and open world trade. “Finland has a good reputation in Japan. Free trade with Japan opens up new export opportunities and it is important that Finnish companies take advantage of the possibilities effectively,” Minister Mykkänen says.
The aim is to start the application of the agreement towards the end of next year.
NordenBladet — The Nordic Council of Ministers has established a fixed-term council of ministers, MR-Digital, to coordinate cooperation on digitalisation. The Baltic states also participate in the cooperation.
Minister Anne Berner will attend the first MR-Digital meeting on 8 December 2017 in Oslo. The meeting will decide on the future priorities and discuss the use of electronic authentication (eID) and the 5th generation wireless systems (5G).
NordenBladet — The EU Foreign Affairs Council (FAC) will meet in Brussels on 11 December. Finland’s representative at the meeting will be Minister for Foreign Affairs Timo Soini. The topics on the agenda will include Iraq, the Middle East and the Sahel region. In addition, the foreign ministers and development ministers will hold a joint meeting to exchange views on the follow-up to the African Union – European Union (AU–EU) summit, which was held in Côte d’Ivoire.
The foreign ministers will hold a debate on Iraq and recent developments in the Middle East. The EU’s aim is to avoid the escalation of tensions in the region. As for Iraq, discussions will be held on the EU strategy for engagement with Iraq, which will be adopted at the beginning of next year, as well as on the EU’s support for stability and security in Iraq. Finland lays particular emphasis on the importance of addressing migration matters in the cooperation between the EU and Iraq, including efficient returns.
At the joint session between the foreign ministers of the G5 Sahel (Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger) and the Foreign Affairs Council, views will be exchanged on the situation in the Sahel and the EU’s support for the G5 countries’ security initiative.
The development ministers and foreign ministers, for their part, will discuss the results of and further actions following the recently held AU–EU summit. The fact that Finland had a youth representative in its official delegation attracted positive attention.
The Foreign Affairs Council will adopt conclusions on Thailand and on the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as well as on the EU’s Gender Action Plan. Additionally, the Council is expected to adopt a decision establishing the Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) and determining the list of the participating Member States.
High Representative Federica Mogherini has also invited Foreign Affairs Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanjahu, for an unofficial breakfast meeting with the foreign ministers.
NordenBladet — Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Kai Mykkänen will participate in the WTO Ministerial Conference that will take place on 10–13 December 2017 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The Ministerial Conference will aim to achieve common understanding on the unresolved issues of the Doha Development Agenda (DDA), launched in 2001, and to clarify the next steps for the work to be done in Geneva.
The negotiations in Buenos Aires will aim to reach an outcome concerning fisheries subsidies, transparency of export restrictions on food products and a permanent solution on the storing of food products for the needs of food security (PSH). As regards the domestic subsidies on agriculture, a work programme to commence after the meeting will be aimed at instead. The negotiations will also involve domestic regulation of services, special and differential treatment of developing countries, e-commerce and investment facilitation.
From the Finnish perspective, the most noteworthy subjects for further action are e-commerce, improving the transparency of regulation and investment facilitation. Other subjects of interest to Finland include improvement of market access in various industries, but these are not on the agenda in Buenos Aires.
The persistent economic recession has fed protectionism and increased resistance to globalisation in general. The WTO has also received its share of the criticism. There are low expectations for the conference.
“Finland is one of those countries which supports a multilateral, rule-based trading system. It is simply the best alternative for a small economy like Finland, which is dependent on exports and highly integrated into the international market,” says Minister Mykkänen.
Over the last few days, the Ministerial Conference has gained negative publicity, as the Argentine authorities have banned representatives of various non-governmental organisations from entering the country, citing security reasons.
“Finland supports openness and continuous dialogue with civil society. We have worked closely with the Argentine authorities and I have discussed the matter with the Argentine Foreign Minister. We achieved good results through our advocacy work: meeting accreditation has now been awarded to Finnish NGOs. This is positive as no barriers are needed between the authorities and non-governmental organisations,” says Minister Mykkänen.
Additionally, in connection with the conference, Minister Mykkänen will participate in the unofficial dialogue on how to promote a reform of fossil fuel subsidies in the WTO. From the perspective of preventing climate change, the fossil fuel subsidies are directly in opposition to the goals of the Paris Agreement. A reform of fossil fuel subsidies supports smarter use of public funding and social justice in developing countries.
In addition to participating in the Ministerial Conference, Minister Mykkänen will attend several bilateral meetings with other WTO member states.
