An exhibition portraying Finnish peacekeeping will be opened at the UN Headquarters

Peacekeeping Finland, an exhibition portraying Finnish peacekeeping will be opened at the UN Headquarters in New York on May 30.

Over 50 000 Finns have served on peacekeeping assignments since 1956 in more than thirty operations. The exhibition will portray the history of Finnish peacekeeping, civilian crisis management and mediation of peace from the very beginning in Suez until the present day by means of large illustrations on walls and videos.

The following prominent figures were interviewed and they shared their views on current issues: former president Martti Ahtisaari; Major General Juha Kilpiä, Head of Mission of the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO); Dr Helena Ranta, an internationally renowned forensic expert; Brigadier General Jukka Savolainen, Head of the European Police Mission (EUPOL) in Afghanistan; Georg Charpentier, Deputy Special Representative of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL); and Pekka Haavisto, a member of the Finnish Parliament.

After New York the exhibition will be seen in Washington and after that in various embassies locates in areas where Finnish peacekeepers are active. Some of the exhibition will be also seen in Finland at the official functions of the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry for Foreign Affairs.

In the United Nations the personnel have free access to the exhibition. It can be visited online at
www.peacekeepingfinland.fi

The exhibition was designed by a working group with participants from the Ministry of Defence, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, FINCENT and Defence Command Finland. Konsepti Advertising is responsible for the execution of the exhibition and journalist Rauli Virtanen for the personal interviews.

For more information, please contact Head of the Media and Communications Unit, Mr Jyrki Iivonen, on +358 50 568 0553 or H.E. Ambassador Kari Kahiluoto on +358 40 481 9843.