Kehityslehti magazine and communications to increase development awareness to be discontinued as part of Foreign Service reform

As part of the work to reform the Foreign Service, decisions have been made on changes to the Foreign Ministry’s communications. In the report submitted at the end of 2023, the working group recommended that the Department for Communications focus on current affairs and strategic communications and that the Foreign Ministry’s communications be primarily directed to audiences abroad and to supporting Finland’s foreign policy influencing activities.

In line with these recommendations, the Unit for Communications on Sustainable Development and Trade will be discontinued as of 31 July 2024. The Foreign Ministry’s development communications will focus on communicating on current affairs in the future. As part of the reorganisation that will enter into force on 1 August 2024, all external communications, including communications on development and trade, will be concentrated in the new Communications Unit.

The Ministry’s development communications aimed at global education and increasing development awareness will cease, and the June issue of the Development-Utveckling magazine will be the last one. The printed magazine will discontinue, and the website and social media accounts will be closed by the end of August.