Finland Times

 

Finland is set to celebrate its 60th anniversary of UN membership on Wednesday.

 

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will hold an event at Finlandia Hall marking the day with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon as the main keynote speaker, according to a press release issued on Tuesday.

 

‘It is great that Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will pay a visit to Helsinki from the Paris Climate Change negotiations," Foreign Minister Timo Soini says. "This is a significant acknowledgement of Finland's activities in the UN."

 

The 60th anniversary celebrations will look at the history and future of Finland's UN membership.

 

The participants will consider the UN's importance for Finland and Finland's influence in the UN. Recent cases in which Finnish expertise and innovations have been used in the UN will be also discussed, said the release.

 

In addition to the UN Secretary-General, President of the Republic Sauli Niinistö, Speaker of Parliament Maria Lohela, Prime Minister Juha Sipilä and Minister for Foreign Affairs Timo Soini will speak at the event.

 

Other speakers will be Paula Vanninen, Director of VERIFIN, the Finnish National Chemical Weapons Convention Authority, Marja-Riitta Ketola, Executive Director of UNICEF Finland, and Pekka Kariniemi, Chair of the Board of Directors of Biolan. UN Youth of Finland and schoolchildren will also tell about their future expectations.

 

Music will be performed by Tapiola Youth Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Jorma Panula, Ninni Poijärvi &Ali Alawad, and by Signmark, a rap artist and the Foreign Ministry’s Special Representative to promote the rights of people with disability. The event will be hosted by journalist Rita Strömmer.

 

The ceremonies will be attended by about 1,400 guests.

 

Finland was admitted to UN membership on 14 December 1955. Finland submitted its membership application as early as in 1947.