90% Finns see development support important: Poll

About 90 per cent of Finns viewed that development cooperation to be important and felt Finland has a lot to give in various sectors, particularly in education, according to an opinion poll carried out by Taloustutkimus on behalf of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs.

The results showed that an increasing number of Finns are more interested in and find development cooperation to be more important than before, said an official press release.

About 47% of Finns found development cooperation to be very important, while 41% find it fairly important. The number of respondents finding it very important has increased by 5 percentage points from last year.

“The results are delightful. To me, this indicates that Finns are not looking to be passive bystanders, but actively and responsibly engage in global problem solving,” said Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Anne-Mari Virolainen.

Without providing pre-determined choices, the opinion poll asked citizens how Finland could best help developing countries. The most popular answer by far was advancing education and know-how. The answer was indicated by 37% of respondents. The second and third most popular replies were healthcare (13%) and helping women and children (11%).

Based on the poll, Finns put a strong emphasis on the significance of education in development cooperation.

According to the respondents, poverty and lack of development are the most significant factors behind low level of education, conflicts and inequality. Finns find that the most effective tool for battling global inequality is education. Respondents also find that advancing the know-how and professionalism of girls and women is essential.

According to the opinion poll, citizens nearly unanimously support the primary objective of Finnish development cooperation, which is the empowerment of girls and women: 98 per cent of respondents find that girls and women should have the right to their own bodies.

A total of 1,004 persons around Finland were polled personally between 17 May and 8 June 2018. The margin of error for the survey is 3.2 percentage points with a CI of 95%.