Govt appoints Nat´l Commission for UNESCO

The Government on Thursday appointed the members of the Finnish National Commission for UNESCO for the four-year term from 2 March 2023 to 31 December 2026, said the Ministry of Education and Culture in a press release.

The Finnish National Commission for UNESCO is an expert and cooperation body providing advice on matters related to UNESCO.

Professor Teivo Teivainen from the University of Helsinki will chair the Commission.

The members are Elina Anttila, Director General, National Museum of Finland; Robin Harms, Senior Adviser, Office of the Non-Discrimination Ombudsman; Veera Heinonen, Director, Democracy and Participation, Sitra; Anna Kanerva, Senior Researcher, Center for Cultural Policy Research Cupore; Jorma Kauppinen, Director, Finnish National Agency for Education; Jaakko Kuosmanen, Academy Secretary, Finnish Academy of Science and Letters; Helena Laukko, Executive Director, UN Association of Finland; Anna Munsterhjelm, Chief Executive Officer, Finnish National Youth Council Allianssi; Päivi Pohjolainen, Development Manager, City of Turku; Thomas Slätis, Vice-Chair, Reporters without Borders – Finland; and Lauri Tuomi, Chief Executive Officer, Finnish Lifelong Learning Foundation.

The Ministry of Education and Culture is in charge of the Commission secretariat.

The Commission assists the Ministry of Education and Culture in particular in managing the relations between UNESCO and Finland.

The Commission's principal task is to submit opinions to the Ministry and to the Government, for example on the decisions and recommendations of UNESCO's General Assembly and administrative bodies, and those of other international expert meetings which UNESCO organises. The Commission's work also includes advocacy and contributing to the preparation of programme agenda.