Finland, SA sign LOI on cooperation in mediation

Finland and South Africa on Tuesday signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) on Co-Operation in Peace Mediation during the state visit of President Sauli Niinistö to South Africa, said the Ministry for Foreign Affairs in a press release on Tuesday.

The LOI was signed between the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland and the Department of International Relations and Cooperation of South Africa with the view to support more inclusive and participatory peace mediation processes and to promote mediation at multilateral fora.

Finland and South Africa both have longstanding experience in the field of peace mediation and the Letter of Intent gives further impetus to the cooperation between the countries.

Peace mediation has for a long time been a foreign policy priority for Finland, which was one of the co-founders on the UN Group on Friends on Mediation in 2010.

South Africa is also a member of this group.

For more than a decade, Finland has supported the African Union in enhancing its capacities to concretely support peace mediation processes on the African continent.

In 2020, a Centre for Peace Mediation was established at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland.

“Finland’s Africa Strategy recognises the need to increase political dialogue with African countries. The Letter of Intent also supports this objective”, said Katja Ahlfors, Director of Centre for Peace Mediation.