Int´l peace summit begins in Helsinki today

The world's leading peace and reconciliation experts will meet in Helsinki on Wednesday and Thursday with the view to strengthen the prospects for peace in an unstable international situation, said a government press release.

The number of conflicts is growing and they have become more complicated. In addition, the prevention and resolution of conflicts is more difficult than before and requires coordination and cooperation among participants.

“This conference could not be more topical. The prospects for peace are becoming slimmer. In many conflicts, weapons are seen as the answer but they only make the world less secure. Instead of weapons we need dialogue,” said one of the conference organisers and founder of Crisis Management Initiative (CMI) and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Martti Ahtisaari, also a former President of the country.

The conference will focus on national dialogues, which have become an increasingly important tool for conflict prevention and resolution. National dialogue is based on the idea that lasting solutions cannot be found to conflicts without all sectors of society participating in the peace-building.

In addition to Martti Ahtisaari, the conference keynote speakers include Lakhdar Brahimi, former UN Joint Special Representative for Syria, Zalmay Khalilzad, former US ambassador to the UN and Iraq, Hifikepunye Lucas Pohamba, former president of Namibia, Catherine Samba-Panza, former President of the Central African Republic and Pekka Haavisto, member of Parliament and the Foreign Minister’s Special Representative on Mediation.

The conference is organised by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs in cooperation with the Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Mission (FELM), Finn Church Aid, Crisis Management Initiative and Common Space Initiative.

The conference builds on the previous Conferences on Non-Formal Dialogue Processes and National Dialogues held in Helsinki in 2014 and 2015.