Finland Times

 

Minister for Foreign Affairs Erkki Tuomioja. Photo - Lehtikuva.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Erkki Tuomioja at an international seminar on Wednesday said that Finland in its foreign and security policy applies various ways to promote the full and equal participation of women in peace processes and mediation.

 

He reminded the international community of the fact that the strengthening of equality has been one of the most important factors in Finland's own success story.

 

Crisis Management Initiative (CMI), an organization established by President Martti Ahtisaari, organised the seminar with support of the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO) in Kirkkonummi, according to a press release of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

 

President Ahtisaari also addressed the high-level seminar. The first Gender and Mediation seminar was held in Oslo earlier this year.

 

Tuomioja emphasized that gender equality and the empowerment of women are necessary elements of sustainable social development.   

 

The minister pointed out that, when seen internationally, women are greatly under-represented in peace processes and mediation. During the past two decades, globally only four per cent of the signatories of peace agreements have been women, he added.

 

The seminar was part of the three-year Gender and Mediation project concerning women's participation in mediation. The UN Mediation Support Unit is responsible for carrying out the project.

 

During the three years, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs will use about 550,000 euros of development cooperation funds for the project. The initiative for the provision of training came from the UN Secretariat.

 

The goal of the training is to strengthen international efforts to guarantee women's participation in peace processes and to draw attention to the gender perspective in these processes.

 

At the same time, presentations by leading experts and discussions provide the opportunity to reflect on solutions to barriers in women's participation.

 

Among the guests of the seminar were persons involved in major mediation tasks, especially Special Representatives working under the UN Secretary-General.  

 

Among the participants were Oscar Fernandez-Taranco, Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs at the UN, Lisa Buttenheim, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General in Cyprus, Abou Moussa, Special Representative for Central Africa, and Augustine Mahiga, the former Special Representative for Somalia.

 

Enhancing the participation of women in peace processes has been the international community's objective especially since UN Security Council Resolution 1,325 was adopted.

 

In practice, the implementation of the objective has been slow.

 

Finland had gained a prominent profile as an advocate for women's participation, and mediation had also been taken into account in Finland's National Action Plan 1,325, said the press release.