MFA: Minister for Foreign Affairs Soini: Women have a major role in building sustainable peace

Minister for Foreign Affairs Timo Soini will open the event. In his address, he will emphasise the objectives of Finland’s third action plan in enhancing women’s role and decision-making capacities with regard to conflict prevention, resolution and peacebuilding. Peace processes and crisis management among other issues are at the heart of the action plan.

“Finland is strongly committed to the 1325 agenda. Mediation is one of my strategic priorities as the Minister for Foreign Affairs. Sustainable peace may be achieved only by involving all parties of society in the dialogue. Several studies indicate that women have an important role in this work,” Minister for Foreign Affairs Soini says.

The action plan will be implemented in collaboration with different administrative branches. Civil society actors in both Finland and crisis regions play a key role in the implementation and follow-up of the action plan. Finland’s aim has been to create a realistic and concrete action plan where the focus is on the promotion of action.

The keynote speakers at the event are Minister for Foreign Affairs Soini and Executive Director of UN Women Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka. During her visit in Finland, Mlambo-Ngcuka will also have bilateral discussions with Minister Soini.

Former president of Finland Tarja Halonen and the Foreign Minister’s Special Representative on Mediation Jutta Urpilainen, among others, will also speak at the launch event for the National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security. The event will be hosted by former Minister Elisabeth Rehn. Event participants will receive the new action plan. It will also be published online at the websites of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Defence on 13 April 2018.

Webcast of the event can be viewed live at https://formin.videosync.fi/launch-of-finlands-national-action-plan-on-women

Inquiries: Riikka Taivassalo, Special Adviser to the Foreign Minister, tel. +358 46 923 4581 and Ann-Sofie Stude, Unit for UN and General Global Affairs, tel. +358 295 350 639.

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