MFA: UNICEF Deputy Executive Director to visit Finland

Deputy Executive Director Charlotte Petri Gornitzka will hold annual consultations with Satu Santala, Director General of the Department for Development Policy in the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, in which the cooperation between Finland and UNICEF will be extensively discussed. Petri Gornitzka will also meet Anita Lehikoinen, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Education and Culture, and Elina Kalkku, Under-Secretary of State at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, as well as Members of Parliament, and visit the United Nations Technology Innovations Labs (UNTIL) in Espoo.

UNICEF is one of Finland’s key UN partners. Finland provides both core funding and project support to the Childrens’ Fund and offers funding for UNICEF’s Innovation Fund. Since 2015, Finland has provided a total of EUR 16.2 million of project funding for UNICEF’s No Lost Generation initiative in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey.  The projects support the education, protection and social inclusion of children affected by the conflict in Syria, especially those in the most vulnerable position. In total, the initiative covers more than six million children and young people. Meanwhile in Afghanistan, the Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene programme (WASH) has improved the quality of drinking water, sanitation and hygiene for hundreds of thousands of people. Between 2017 and 2018, Finland contributed EUR 2 million to the programme.  

The operations of the Finnish Committee for UNICEF include fund-raising for UN’s development programmes and for emergency relief, and a variety of information and advocacy activities to promote the rights of children. In 2018, the organisation had 140,000 supporters in Finland.

Inquiries: Henna Knuuttila, Counsellor, +358 295 350 246
Media inquiries: Riikka Kämppi, Finnish Committee for UNICEF, +358 40 572 9733, riikka.kamppi@unicef.fi

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