MFA: President of the United Nations General Assembly Maria Fernanda Espinosa to attend Youth Peace Symposium in Finland

"Sustainable peace cannot be achieved if all parties in society are not involved in the building of peace. That is why we must emphasise the paramount importance of young people's and women's participation. Organising this event in Helsinki is part of Finland's active contribution to young people's stronger role and participation in peace processes," Foreign Minister Timo Soini says.

President of the United Nations General Assembly Maria Fernanda Espinosa will hold the keynote speech at the conference. She will have meetings with young people who attend the event and with Finnish opinion-leaders in question concerning youth.

Foreign Minister Soini and President of the UN General Assembly Espinosa met last in connection with the high-level regular session of the UN General Assembly in September. Former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ecuador Maria Fernanda Espinosa is the fourth woman to hold the position of President of the UN General Assembly. She has told that during her term she will focus on the following themes: youth, peace and security, gender equality, reform of the UN, migration and refugee questions, environmental matters, decent work, and the rights of persons with disabilities.

Inquiries: Riikka Taivassalo, Special Adviser to the Foreign Minister, tel.  +358 46 923 4581 and Anna Salovaara, Counsellor, Unit for UN and General Global Affairs, tel. +358 50 439 1318.

The Foreign Ministry's email addresses are of the format firstname.lastname@formin.fi.