Development policy study on strengthening civil societies published

Strengthening of civil societies is an important goal in Finland’s development policy and a means to achieve other development policy goals.

The report Finland’s action to strengthen civil societies and advance their enabling environment was published last week as part of UniPID Development Policy Studies (UniPID DPS), funded by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and managed by the Finnish University Partnership for International Development (UniPID). The authors of the report are Tiina Kontinen, Maria Palmusaari, Magdalena Pernthaler, Eija Ranta and Anna Salmivaara.

At the launch of the report, Titta Maja-Luoto, Director General of the Foreign Ministry’s Department for Development Policy, voiced her concern over contemporary changes in world politics that have been undermining civil societies already for years.

- We welcome the report’s concrete recommendations that help Finland adopt a more strategic approach to strengthening civil societies, Maja-Luoto said.

Associate Professor Tiina Kontinen from the University of Jyväskylä and Academy Research Fellow Eija Ranta from the University of Helsinki presented the premises, stages, results and recommendations of the commissioned study to the Ministry for Foreign Affairs.

Other participants in the panel discussion were Director of Advocacy Annika Launiala from Finnish Development NGOs Fingo and Senior Adviser on Development Policy Lotta Valtonen from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. The panellists concluded that the study is a good starting point for further work aiming to strengthen civil societies and to improve their position in development policy in systematic, goal-oriented and strategic ways.

Read the report: Finland's action to strengthen civil societies

Civil society promotes human rights and sustainable development