MFA: Thursday is the UN’s International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women – Merikasarmi to be lit up in orange

Finland supports wide adoption of the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (‘the Istanbul Convention’). Finland supports the EU’s accession to the Convention. “The Convention is an example of the concrete changes for the better that international human rights conventions can bring about in Finland too,” says Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto.

This year, Finland’s International Gender Equality Prize (IGEP) was awarded to the Turkish organisation We Will Stop Femicide for its work on tackling violence against women. The platform’s pioneering work to combat violence against women in Turkey has global importance.

“Finland has played a significant role in the UN’s decision to make action against online violence against women one of the key goals of its Generation Equality campaign,” says Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Ville Skinnari. Development policy is another means to tackle gender-based violence around the world.

The illumination of the Merikasarmi building will begin on Thursday 25 November at 16 and end at midnight.

Inquiries:

Katri Viinikka, Finland’s Ambassador for Gender Equality, Ministry for Foreign Affairs, tel. +358 50 911 0216 and Päivi Paasikoski, Director of Government Communications, tel. +358 295 160 136 

The email addresses of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs are in the format firstname.lastname@formin.fi