Role of Finland in Conflict Resolution and Peace building

CMI Autumn Seminar: Peace making and crisis management - prospects for a Finnish role
Keynote by President Ahtisaari

Helsinki, 11 November 2008

Finland is a small country, and we have always been depending on the world outside our borders. Well-functioning institutions, democratic control, transparency, accountability and political will to share the wealth are crucial elements of our society. There is also a strong acknowledgement that we have an obligation to contribute to a fairer global wealth distribution. I truly believe that Finland can play an even more important role in peace building and we can strengthen this field through a further systematisation of Finnish initiatives and activities. We also have self-interest in this. A number of conflicts contribute to international terrorism, the spreading of weapons of mass destruction, ethnic hatred, environmental or economic crises and large waves of refugees. This may also have a direct impact on Finland and therefore, global stability and sustainable peace are inseparable part of our own security.

There does not exist such a conflict in this world that cannot be solved.

Current trend indicates a reduction in the number of conflicts. This is in large part due to the increased number and effectiveness of conflict resolution and peacekeeping efforts around the world. Also the long term commitment to reduce poverty is starting to bring results. It is vital that despite of the current financial crisis we stay committed in supporting fragile and conflict prone countries.
Mediation is increasingly used in conflict resolution: in 58% of today’s conflicts. A key in successful conflict resolution and mediation is to understand that there are no ready-made one size fits all solutions. Mediation is an integral, not isolated, part in the conflict resolution circle and should always be propagated together with other forms of peacemaking actions such as civilian crisis management.

This is the reason why I established CMI after my Presidency. I felt that responding to the security challenges required independent actors that were able to react rapidly and take a comprehensive approach to peacemaking, and thereby complement the international efforts. This is how CMI decided to approach peacemaking. By selecting areas of work, which we found were complementary yet suitable for an organization deeply rooted in the Finnish values and expertise: Track II diplomacy, training of civilians for crisis management and the use of Information Communication Technology in peace building.

Track II

The benefit of actors such as CMI is that they can take an initiative on exceptional ideas or take risks that the bigger organizations do not have the possibility or flexibility to take.

Organizations with the ability to engage in Track II diplomacy – in informal and non-official peace mediation - are important partners for governments that want to support peace-making and conflict resolution. Track II organisations can be helpful in situations where governments are not, for one reason or another, able to operate and to advance a peace process and may not wish to risk losing their face in trying to settle an intractable conflict. In addition, if the engagement leads into success, the glory is shared, but if it is unsuccessful, the Track II organisation can take the blame!

CMI has been involved in the Aceh peace process and in the two Iraq –meetings that were held in Finland. Finland funded parts of both processes but through an actor like CMI, it was possible for the Government of Finland to keep its distance to the sensitive and high risk processes. I hope that the Government of Finland can continue with this type of cooperation with CMI in the future.

This leads me to the question of continuity and building mediation capacity within Finland. Since the beginning, I have involved experts at CMI as well as Foreign-, and Defence Ministry officials in the mediation efforts I have worked with. I regard this as important so that the experience and knowledge of peace mediation will be transferred to the next generation of Finnish peace mediators.
But more can, and should be done.

Training

Effective crisis management requires well-trained and mission-ready civilian and military cadres that are able to work together coherently.

Immediately after establishing CMI I asked my colleagues to assess the European capacities to provide training for civilian experts going to the field. Since then we have been putting pressure on a regular basis on the Finnish Government to establish a training centre for crisis management. I am glad that it finally happened in 2007. The Government of Finland established the Crisis Management Centre Finland in Kuopio. With the resources of the CMC, Finland can be proud of sending highly qualified and well prepared experts to EU and other missions.

We must ensure that this work continues. I would consider it useful that in the future we could train more internationals and increase cooperation for example with the African training centers.

Utilisation of Technology

The capacities can also be enhanced with smart use of Information and Communication Technologies in all phases of the conflict resolution cycle and subsequent peacemaking phase. ICTs, when used effectively could be one of the niche capabilities that Finland could offer for crisis management and reconstruction operations.

CMI is committed to furthering the smart use of ICTs in practice. I give you few examples:
- As part of the ICT4 Peace Foundation CMI is working closely with the UN Secretariat to improve the UN crisis information systems.
- CMI’s “Governance out of a Box” concept aims at providing national governments recovering from crisis a set of tools for quickly and effectively reinstating priority functions of civil administration in the immediate post-war statebuilding phase. A concept for a civil registration tool which responds to the common constraints faced at the post-war reconstruction phase is currently under development. CMI and our partners in Liberia are currently developing a first field implementation project for a birth registry.
- Finland, as part of the Multinational Experimentation 5 (which is a multinational military experimentation process to develop further the comprehensive approach to crisis management) has developed both conceptual and technological approaches for more effective ways of sharing information among crisis response actors. Finland has led the develop0ment of a preliminary technological solution, Shared Information Framework and Technology, MNE5 context. Finland should consider providing the information sharing service and platform as the unique Finnish contribution in the field of crisis management.

All conflicts can be solved, but this requires a genuine and concerted effort. Finland has an important role to play through:
1) rising Finland’s profile in mediation and conflict resolution,
2) transferring Finnish mediation and conflict resolution expertise to African and Asian regional organizations; and
3) Further encouraging the Finnish private sector to take part in reconstruction.
I will discuss each of these in turn:
• Peace mediation and conflict resolution

It is in our interest to support the central role of the United Nations in the world. I fully support Finland in its campaign for UN Security Council membership in 2013-14.

But to really raise its profile, Finland should systematically invest in training the next generation of peace mediators and High-Representatives through providing Finnish diplomats and other professionals opportunities to work in the UN and EU missions and in Track II diplomacy organisations.

I also would like to see that the peace mediation expertise that many of the retired Finnish government officials and academics have, would be put into more active use. They could provide analysis and services aimed at facilitating the resolution of particular conflicts.

Additional and focused training could provide different sectors of society, such as the private sector, the capability to serve as competent personnel for EU/UN missions.

We could also channel support for mediation through multilateral organizations. In the UN context Finland should create a clear pro-mediation profile for itself by supporting the Mediation Support Unit in the UN Department for Political Affairs.

The work of the European Union would also benefit from the creation of a Mediation Support Unit, which could assist both the European institutions and Special Representatives. I suggest Finland could support the creation of such a unit.

• Support for regional organizations in Africa and Asia
When I look at the world/international community and analyse the best opportunities for Finland to create a profile for itself a few things come into my mind.

Finland should aim at strengthening regional initiatives and organizations while emphasizing local ownership. As I said in Paris at the UNESCO Félix Houphouët-Boigny Peace Prize Ceremony; the creation of the African Union in 2002 has been an important milestone for Africa. Africa is entering into a new era of conflict resolution and peace mediation. I am increasingly optimistic that Africa can deal with African problems herself and without outsiders, like myself. I was delighted to see the success of the former Secretary-General Kofi Annan in Kenya. However, the African systems for conflict resolution and peacemaking need continued support in order to be fully functional. Finland should take a role in supporting this still fragile African capability through systematic and long term capacity-building initiatives that are led by the African actors. The emphasis in such a partnership should be on building the civilian capacity for conflict resolution and mediation. Creating access for the AU and other African regional organizations to international networks in the field of conflict prevention and peace mediation would be an important contribution.

Expanded cooperation with Asian countries is vital in order to contribute to global peace and security. Close cooperation within the ASEM partnership, complementing ongoing work within the Asian Regional Forum, allows Europe and Asia to tackle common challenges. I think that ASEM holds great potential to develop more in-depth interaction, in particular in regional security issues and cooperation. Finland should be at the core of developing the role of ASEM as a dialogue-facilitator on regional issues.

• Private sector in Statebuilding
The incentives for the private sector to contribute to statebuilding activities are many: Firstly, a safer world is a better world for commerce; secondly, support to statebuilding contributes to the development of new markets and thirdly, improved governance makes doing business more risk free.

I have seen that the international community and countries recovering from crisis can benefit from the private sector’s innovative energies, their solution-oriented experiences, and the modern technologies that are available to them. It is therefore in all of our interest to ensure that the rule of law in post-conflict countries is improved to allow investment coming in and economic development to take off.

The Finnish private sector have the skills and they have the products, now we should think about how to use them for creating a Finnish response to what has been called the ‘peace industry’.

Conclusions

Finland’s efforts to promote peace, reconciliation and development reflect the value we place on human solidarity and our respect for the value of each human being.

I think often we are too modest or lack ambition about our role in the world in promoting peace.

Finland can play a constructive, supporting role and enable progress that benefits the people, by taking its role as one of the leading peace mediation and conflict resolution actor in the world, by sharing its experience with the emerging regional organizations and by encouraging the corporate sector to join forces for a more peaceful future.

Finland needs to set the goals high and develop a proactive peace policy that combines our national capabilities. Because every conflict can be solved and Finland has all that it takes to play a crucial role in that process.