Finland Times

 

File picture of the ministry of foreign affairs. Photo Lehtikuva.

The attitude of Finns towards development cooperation has remained positive with 82 per cent of them considering it very important or rather important, said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a press release on Thursday.

 

According to a survey commissioned by the ministry, the support for development cooperation is stable regardless of political views and the majority of supporters of all parties consider development cooperation to be very important or rather important.

 

Besides, 84 per cent of Finns are of the opinion that rich countries have a responsibility to help developing countries. Finns, however, are aware that development cooperation is only one of the means of bringing about change. Fifty-nine per cent of them agree that development cooperation has an impact, but that this alone is not enough.

 

According to the survey findings, 16 per cent of the population consider development to be of minor importance or unimportant.

 

File picture of International Development Minister Pekka Haavisto. Photo Lehtikuva.

In the survey, Taloustutkimus Oy interviewed 1,000 Finns over the age of 15 years in May. The ministry has been investigating the attitudes towards development cooperation through corresponding interview surveys on a regular basis since the 1990s.

 

“It is great that Finns see the importance of development cooperation. At the same time, citizens’ need for information must be met. The study shows that more information is needed about the results of the work done and the use of appropriations,” said Development Minister Pekka Haavisto.

 

The survey found the highest support for development cooperation among the Greens and Christian Democrats – 98 per cent of them consider it very important or rather important.

 

The respective figures among the supporters of the Coalition Party, the Centre Party and the Social Democratic Party fall between 80 and 85 per cent. Sixty-six per cent of the Finns Party supporters consider development cooperation to be very important or rather important and 32 per cent consider it to be of minor importance or unimportant.

 

On the other hand, citizens’ confidence in the results of development cooperation has declined slightly over the past decade.

 

Nearly half of Finns believe that the most important way out of poverty is education.