NordenBladet — Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto will meet Jordanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Ayman Safadi in Helsinki on 3 August.
The Ministers will discuss the bilateral relations between Finland and Jordan as well as topical regional questions.
“Jordan is an important partner in the Middle East for Finland and the EU. We appreciate Jordan’s efforts to promote stability and peace in the crisis-ridden region. In our bilateral political and commercial relations, there is plenty of room for closer cooperation,” says Foreign Minister Haavisto.
NordenBladet —The northwestern part of Finland is fighting the worst forest fire in half a century as fires rage roughly 300 hectares over five days.
On Monday 26th July, a fire broke out south of the Finnish town, Kalajoki, due to the exceptionally hot summer weather.
Experts noted that the fire located near Kalajoki is Finland’s most significant forest fire since 1971 when a fire burnt roughly 1,600 hectares of land.
Roughly 250 people have been deployed to help combat the fire, including the nation’s army. Additionally, four helicopters have been mobilized.
Luckily, the affected area is sparsely populated, and no casualties have been reported as of yet.
Jarmo Haapanen, Chief of Firefighting Operations near Kalajoki, explains, “It’s still burning, but it hasn’t got bigger; it’s limited to 300 hectares.”
Haapanen followed up by saying that it would take at least a minimum of one week to be put out but could be closer to two or three weeks.
NordenBladet — Adopted in June 2013, Protocol No. 15 to the European Convention on Human Rights will enter into force on 1 August 2021. Its entry into force will reduce the application period to four months and also introduce other changes to the right to submit applications to the European Court of Human Rights. The shorter application period is, however, subject to a transition period, which ends on 1 February 2022.
The fifteenth protocol amending the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) was adopted and opened for signature on 24 June 2013. As all the Contracting Parties to the ECHR, including Finland, have now ratified the Protocol, it will enter into force on 1 August 2021.
The Protocol brings some major changes to the process of lodging an application with the European Court of Human Rights that sits in Strasbourg. As regards applicants, the most significant change is the reduction of the period for submitting an application. The current six-month application period will be reduced to four months after a final domestic decision.
The reduced time period is, however, subject to a transition rule under which the four-month period for submitting an application to the Court will not be effective before 1 February 2022. The shorter application period will also not apply to cases where the final national decision was given prior to the entry into force of the Protocol, i.e. before 1 August 2021.
Another major change concerns the admissibility criteria of a human rights application at the Court with regard to ‘significant disadvantage’. Following this amendment, cases where the applicant has not suffered a significant disadvantage will not be admitted, even if the alleged human rights violation had not been duly considered by a domestic tribunal. Consequently, the European Court of Human Rights will no longer process applications that can be characterised as insignificant.
The Protocol underlines the subsidiarity of the application mechanism under the European Convention on Human Rights in relation to applying the Convention at national level. Alleged human rights violations should primarily be processed before national courts.
The Protocol removes the right of the parties to an application to object to relinquishment of jurisdiction by a Chamber to the Grand Chamber in cases that involve an important issue concerning the interpretation of the Convention, or in cases where the ruling would amount to a potential conflict with the Court’s existing case-law.
The Protocol also sets an upper age limit of 65 years for judicial candidates to the European Court of Human Rights.
NordenBladet — The UN Food Systems Summit will be held at the level of heads of state or government in connection with the UN General Assembly in September. Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Jari Leppä and Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Ville Skinnari represented Finland at the ministerial level Pre-Summit in Rome on 26–28 July.
The UN Food Systems Pre-Summit brought together an unprecedented number of participants: nearly 20,000 virtual delegates and around 500 in-person delegates. More than a hundred ministers from all over the world, including small island states, contributed to the discussions. In addition to representatives of different states, a large number of representatives from civil society organisations (CSOs), food producers, business life and academia also attended the meeting.
The ministers of the Finnish Government participated in the meeting virtually. Minister Leppä delivered Finland’s address to the meeting and presented Finland’s efforts to improve the sustainability of food systems, including the One Health approach, school meals, nutrition recommendations, the Shared Table concept, and research and innovations related to carbon sequestration in the soil. Minister Skinnari gave an opening speech at the thematic session on school meals. In his speech, he emphasised the importance of school feeding for children’s health and learning outcomes. According to him, free school meals have been one of the factors contributing to Finland’s development into a welfare state. Minister Skinnari is the World Food Programme (WFP) champion for school feeding and he directs global work to set up a coalition to support school feeding worldwide.
“The Sustainable Development Goals can only be attained by improving the sustainability of food systems”In her speech, UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed emphasised the importance of food systems in the efforts to achieve the other Sustainable Development Goals. In her opinion, the SDGs can only be achieved by improving the sustainability of food systems. Mohammed also emphasised that it is important to involve all parties in the work.
The meeting placed particular emphasis on the contribution of women, young people and indigenous peoples. However, some CSOs criticised the role given to large companies in the preparation process and protested against the Pre-Summit by organising a shadow meeting at the same time. Deputy Secretary-General Mohammed appealed to the organisations and expressed her hope that they would also participate in the process – active involvement is the only way to exert influence on the content of the work.
The meeting repeated several times the same serious facts: as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, more than 800 million people are suffering from hunger and as many as three billion cannot afford nutritious food. At the same time, the deadline for the Sustainable Development Goals, the year 2030, is only nine harvests away.We must change the course of development quickly and effectively, otherwise the goals will be beyond reach. Commitments and measures in support of food systems are needed immediately.
At the end of the meeting, seven action tracks with a wide impact on the sustainability of food systems were presented: nutrition and eradication of hunger, reduction of food waste, school feeding, agroecology, blue (water) foods, livelihoods and working conditions, and resilience. The objective is to involve as many countries as possible in the coalitions working towards these goals.
NordenBladet — The Ministry of Transport and Communications will hold a stakeholder event on the preparation of the Transport Safety Strategy on Tuesday 10 August 2021 at 13-15. The event is by invitation, but anyone interested can watch it live. Participants other than invited guests will also have the opportunity to present comments and ask questions during the event.
The Ministry of Transport and Communications is currently preparing a new Transport Safety Strategy. Its vision is to improve safety in all modes of transport to the point that by 2050, no one will die or be seriously injured in traffic. The draft strategy was prepared in broad-based cross-administrative cooperation with various transport sector stakeholders. The draft is currently being circulated for comments.
Minister of Transport and Communications Timo Harakka will give the opening speech at the event. Director of the Ministry’s Safety and Security Unit Elina Immonen will give a presentation on the Transport Safety Strategy and the work that has gone into preparing it. The event will also feature talks by representatives from the National Police Board, the Finnish Lifeboat Institution and the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency Traficom.
The event is being held as part of the Conference on the Future of Europe, in which all EU citizens are welcome to participate in the discussions and create a vision for a common future. Come to the event to hear about the preparation of the Transport Safety Strategy and to learn what its objectives are and why. You can also share your opinions and vision for safe transport.
Watch the webcast of the stakeholder event
The stakeholder event on the Transport Safety Strategy on Tuesday 10 August will be streamed as a live webcast. Watch it from 13.00 to 15.00 on the Ministry’s YouTube channel.A subtitled recording of the event will be available later at the same address.
The webcast will also include a discussion platform open to all participants. Continue the discussion on social media using the hashtags #TransportSafetyStrategy, #YourFuture and #FutureofEurope.
You can also have your say on the preparation of the draft strategy by submitting an opinion through the Lausuntopalvelu.fi service. The deadline for submitting opinions on the Transport Safety Strategy is 13 August 2021. The preparation of the strategy will then be continued by public servants together with stakeholders. A government resolution on the strategy is to be adopted by the end of this year.
NordenBladet — The Government has amended the decree restricting the activities of food and beverage service businesses due to the COVID-19 epidemic. The amended decree will enter into force on 31 July 2021.
In line with the decree, restrictions on the opening and licensing hours of food and beverage service businesses will be in force in the following regions where the epidemic is now in the acceleration phase: Kainuu, Kanta-Häme, Central Finland, North Karelia, North Savo and Satakunta. The earlier set restrictions applicable during the acceleration phase will remain in force in the following regions: Kymenlaakso, Pirkanmaa, Päijät-Häme and Southwest Finland.Food and beverage service businesses may serve alcoholic beverages between 7.00 and 00.00 and be open between 5.00 and 1.00.
Restaurants that primarily serve alcoholic beverages may have half the normal number of customer seats in use in indoor premises. Other restaurants may seat 75 per cent of their normal number of customers inside their establishments. As before, all customers must have their own seat by a table or counter when indoors. The number of customer seats on outdoor terraces is not limited. Restrictions on food and beverage service businesses in the regions of Åland, South Ostrobothnia, North Ostrobothnia, Central Ostrobothnia, South Savo, Ostrobothnia, South Karelia and Lapland from 31 July: There are no separate restrictions on the number of customers or licensing and opening hours.The obligations to observe the general hygiene guidelines and to keep a safe distance apply in areas where the epidemic is at a stable level and in the acceleration phase.
Exceptions to restrictions remain unchanged
The restrictions laid down in the decree do not apply to the activities of staff restaurants or to takeaway sales of food to customers. The restrictions on opening hours do not apply to food and beverage service businesses on vessels and aircraft that operate between Finland and other countries or abroad or to food and beverage service businesses that operate at distribution stations for liquid fuels.The regional epidemic situation will be reviewed over the course of next week and restrictions will be amended in accordance with the regional situation.
NordenBladet — The number of new COVID-19 cases continues to increase for the fifth week in a row. The total number of new cases reported between 19 and 25 July was 2,895. The number is almost 30 per cent higher than the week before. Out of the administered 116,600 COVID-19 tests, the share of positive samples was 2.5 per cent.
The 14-day incidence rates have increased in 19 hospital districts, that is almost throughout the whole country. For the last two-week period, the incidence of new cases is now 93 per hundred thousand inhabitants, The estimated effective basic reproduction number has stayed the same as the week before, i.e. 1.05–1.25, with a 90 per cent probability, which reflects the continued growth of the epidemic. The share of infections from abroad is around 8 per cent.
The epidemic is still spreading among young adults. Between 19 and 25 July, over half of infections were reported among people aged 10–29 and predominantly among those between 18–21 years of age. Last week, 5,952 people were placed in quarantine. This is almost the same number as the week before.In the summer, the transmission chains have become wider. Tracing is more difficult and there are some backlogs. However, in 67 per cent of the cases, infections have been traced successfully. People have been exposed to the COVID-19 virus at different kinds of leisure time events, in restaurants and other food and beverage service businesses, and in outdoor parties and public events. Based on legislation, persons exposed to coronavirus must assist authorities in the tracing of transmission chains and follow the given instructions so that the transmission chains can be broken without delay. At the moment, it is very important that, in their behaviour, young people and people of working age also take into account the risk of contracting the infection in order to avoid lockdown measures.
Slight increase in need for hospital care
In Finland, around 65 per cent of the population have received at least their first vaccine dose and 32 per cent of the population have full vaccination coverage, i.e. they have received the second vaccine dose. Due to COVID-19 vaccine, the need for hospital care does no longer follow the development of the pandemic. The good vaccination coverage of the risk groups plays an important role here. In the oldest age groups, the incidence of COVID-19 and deaths related to the disease are at a very low level. Based on the information provided by the hospital districts, a total of 57 people were receiving hospital care due to the COVID-19 disease on 28 July 2021. Of them, 3 were inpatients in primary healthcare, 48 inpatients in specialised healthcare and 6 inpatients in intensive care. Among those in need of hospital care in Finland, the number of young adults and non-vaccinated patients is notable. During the epidemic, a total of 982 deaths related to the disease have been reported by 28 July 2021. The epidemiological situation is monitored weekly. A report on the epidemic is published on Thursdays at 10.00.The monitoring report on the epidemic published today and the previous reports are available on the website of the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare.
NordenBladet — The Ministry for Foreign Affairs has granted EUR 17 million to international non-governmental organisations (INGOs) for 2021–2024. The support was granted to five organisations for their work on promoting sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHRs) worldwide, and especially in Afghanistan, and for strengthening tax transparency in sub-Saharan Africa.
The funding has a significant role in promoting the goals of Finland’s development cooperation. Support to INGOs is one of the ways to contribute to effective and efficient development cooperation. In this call for proposals for discretionary government grants, EUR 15 million was allocated for the promotion of sexual and reproductive health and rights and EUR 2 million for strengthening tax justice.Funding allocated to tax justice is part of the implementation of the Government’s Taxation for Development Action Programme.
“A reliable and efficient tax system that is considered just is an essential element of well-functioning societies. Through this funding, we support civil societies’ capacity to call on governments to collect tax revenue and use them for providing public services,” Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Ville Skinnari says.
Promoting sexual and reproductive health and rights is one of the key goals in Finland’s development cooperation. The coronavirus pandemic has weakened the availability of SRHR services globally.
“The funding will support women’s and girls’ opportunities to access these vitally important services. Through this support we contribute to advancing the lives of women and girls with disabilities, women and girls belonging to minorities and those suffering from humanitarian crises,” Skinnari says.
Discretionary government funding has been granted to the following organisations:International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF), EUR 3.5 million in 2021–2022. IPPF is an international federation of family planning associations. Its 118 Member Associations (including Family Federation of Finland) offer information about sexual and reproductive health and rights and related training and services. In addition, the federation is one of the most important actors in international forums in advocating for sexual and reproductive health and rights.
Ipas, EUR 3.5 million in 2021–2022. Ipas is one of the few international SRHR actors that concentrates mainly on safe abortion and improved access to modern contraception. Among other areas of work, the organisation focuses on African countries where the availability of abortion care is limited.
MSI Reproductive Choices, EUR 8 million in 2021–2024. MSI (originally Marie Stopes International) is an international non-governmental organisation that promotes sexual and reproductive health in 37 countries. Marie Stopes Afghanistan is the longest-serving independent SRHR actor in the country, aiming to reduce maternal and child mortality.
Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI), EUR 1.2 million in 2021–2022. NRGI is an international non-profit organisation focusing on the transparency of the extractive industries in countries rich in oil, gas and minerals. NRGI aims to ensure accountability in the sector and sustainable benefits for citizens. Stichting Onderzoek Multinationale Ondernemingen (SOMO), EUR 800,000 in 2021–2022. SOMO is a non-profit centre for research on multinational corporations. The organisation investigates the impacts of said corporations’ business activities on people and the environment. It works in close cooperation with African non-governmental organisations in promoting tax justice.
NordenBladet — At the end of June, a total of 316,200 unemployed jobseekers were registered at the Employment and Economic Development Offices and municipalities participating in the local government pilots on employment. This is 100,700 less than a year earlier, but 62,000 more than in June two years ago.
The number of unemployed jobseekers increased by 15,100 from the previous month. Of the unemployed jobseekers, 163,500 were customers of municipalities participating in the local government pilots on employment. The number of unemployed jobseekers also includes those fully laid off. These figures are from the Employment Bulletin of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment.At the end of June, the number of people laid off was 47,200 in the whole country, which was 90,400 fewer than at the same time the year before. The number of people fully laid off totalled 34,100, representing a decrease of 82,800 from June the year before. The number of people fully laid off decreased by 7,100 from May.
The number of long-term unemployed — that is those who had been unemployed without interruption for at least a year — amounted to 112,400, up 37,300 on the previous year. The number of unemployed jobseekers over 50 years of age was 111,600, or 23,000 less than at the same time a year earlier.Unemployed jobseekers under 25 years of age numbered 40,400, representing a decrease of 18,400 from June last year. Of the unemployment periods of youths, 58.1 per cent ended before reaching three months between January and June. This is 2.6 percentage points less than a year before.
Increase in new vacancies
The number of new vacancies reported during June totalled 79,000, or 31,300 more than in June the previous year. In all, the number of unfilled vacancies in June amounted to 145,300, which is 52,300 more than a year ago.At the end of June, the number of persons covered by services included in the activation rate amounted to 104,000, up 5,600 on the previous year. These services include pay subsidies, labour market training, work trials and self-motivated studies.
Statistics Finland: Unemployment rate 7.6%
According to the Labour Force Survey issued by Statistics Finland, in June the number of people in employment was 121,200 more than on the previous year. The employment rate was 75.8%, which was 2.9 percentage points higher than in June the year before. According to the Survey, the unemployment total was 220,200, which is 6,600 more than a year ago. The unemployment rate was 7.6%, or 0.1 percentage points lower than the previous year.
Key differences between Employment Service Statistics and the Labour Force SurveyThis information is based on the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment’s Employment Service Statistics and the Labour Force Survey of Statistics Finland. The Employment Service Statistics of the Ministry are compiled on the basis of the information in the Employment and Economic Development Offices’ customer register, while the Labour Force Survey of Statistics Finland is based on sampling.In the Ministry’s Employment Service Statistics, people that are not in an employment relationship or employed in business are listed as unemployed. Persons fully laid-off but not full-time students are also categorised as unemployed in the Employment Service Statistics. The Labour Force Survey of Statistics Finland has a stricter definition of being unemployed: a person is unemployed if he or she has actively sought employment during the preceding four weeks and is available for work over the coming two weeks. The figures of the Labour Force Survey of Statistics Finland are internationally comparable and thus they are the official Finnish unemployment statistics.
NordenBladet — The Secretary-General of the Council of the European Union has appointed Ilkka Salmi, Master of Laws, as the European Union Counter-Terrorism Coordinator.
The Counter-Terrorism Coordinator is responsible for coordinating the Council’s work in combating terrorism, maintaining an overview of all EU counter-terrorism instruments and strengthening cooperation and dialogue on counter-terrorism initiatives between the Council, the European Commission, the European Parliament and the High Representative.
He is also responsible for assisting Charles Michel, President of the European Council, on matters relating to high-level policies and procedures under his mandate. In addition, the coordinator represents the European Union in matters relating to the fight against terrorism.
The position of the Counter-Terrorism Coordinator was established in 2004 as part of the measures set out in the declaration on combating terrorism. The EU leaders adopted the declaration following the terrorist attacks in Madrid on 11 March 2004.
Ilkka Salmi has served as Director of the Directorate for Disaster Preparedness and Prevention at the European Commission’s Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations since 2020.
Before that, Salmi has worked, among other things, as Permanent Secretary of the Finnish Ministry of the Interior, Director of the Commission’s Security Directorate, Director of the EU Intelligence and Situation Centre, and Director of the Finnish Security Intelligence Service.