Opening speech by Minister Tavio at the launch event of the OECD DAC Peer review on 13 December, 2024

Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,

Today’s discussion on the OECD DAC Peer review report is a high priority for us - I am glad to see so many of you here. Finland has been a member of the DAC [DAK] for almost 50 years and we value the Committee’s unique role in promoting development effectiveness, peer exchanges and international standards. I had the chance to discuss the draft report with the Development Assistance Committee in October and that discussion was very fruitful. We are pleased with the final report presented here today and I want to thank OECD DAC Chair Carsten Staur for coming to Helsinki for this report launch.

I also want to thank everyone, who dedicated time, effort and expertise for this peer review. In particular, the experts from Austria and Czechia, as well as our Civil Society representative Fingo, with support from the OECD Secretariat and DAC Chair’s office.

                                                                         ***

Finland’s Peer Review process was carried out at a time when many changes were taking place both in our development policy and in the Ministry for Foreign Affairs.  During the summer, the government published two important documents that guide our work for the coming years –the Report on International Economic Relations and Development Cooperation and the Report on Finnish Foreign and Security Policy. At the same time, we are going through a big reform process at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. These policy and organizational changes have created certain challenges to the peer review process, as majority of these reforms were not finalized before the Peer Review report was drafted. On the other hand, this has given us an opportunity to dig deep and have forward-looking discussions with different partners and stakeholders.

The peer review methodology includes a country-level visit, which in our case was to our long-standing partner country Tanzania. Finland has made an effort to diversify ourbilateral relations to cover political and trade relations more broadly. This is in line with the objective of making development policy an integral part of Finland’s foreign policy.

The narrowing budget of the Tanzania Country Programme reflects the overall shift in Finland’s development policy from bilateral cooperation to other channels of development financing such as multilateral cooperation. Approximately 90 % of Finland’s development aid is allocated to other categories than to traditional bilateral instruments. A significant amount of Finland’s support is granted to UN agencies, development banks and Finnish civil society organizations, and to humanitarian assistance. We would like to see how this change from bilateral to multilateral cooperation could be better reflected in the Peer Review methodology in the future.

                                                                        ***

This Government has brought a change of direction to development policy. In an effort to improve the overall economic situation in Finland, it has been necessary to make cuts in public spending, including development cooperation budget. These adjustments underline the need to utilise our limited resources as effectively as possible. In general, development cooperation funding should be used more strategically so that it can leverage private capital and help developing countries in their efforts to improve investment environments. Development policy, accordingly, seeks to promote the creation of industries and jobs in developing countries. This is especially important as it helps to strengthen developing countries’ revenue base. These measures correspond to what developing countries themselves are calling for: more trade and investment and less dependency on aid.

At the same time, we need to be able to identify the risks associated with the use of funds and minimize negative impacts. Since the previous Finnish peer review in 2017, there has been significant investment in the “engine room” of Finland’s development policy. Risk management policy and functions are on a completely different level compared to seven years ago. We will continue to strengthen them even further during this government period, taking into account the recommendations in this report.

                                                                        ***

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Finland’s development policy focuses on our strengths and priorities, including promoting the rights of women and girls, education and climate action. We also strive to link trade and development together. Our objective is to build sustainable partnerships with developing countries based on mutual benefit and respect. As Finland will have fewer countries to which we grant direct bilateral development aid, we strive above all to transform our relations with developing countries to encompass other modes of cooperation. Trade and commercial relations will be highlighted.

Ukraine is by far Finland’s largest bilateral development partner and recipient of humanitarian assistance. Finland’s support to Ukraine, its sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity is unwavering. Ukraine needs support in a wide variety of areas, and we must be ready to respond to these needs both now and in the future. Yesterday we published the second part of our national plan to support Ukraine’s reconstruction efforts and we want to underline the fact that this is a whole-of-society effort and appreciate the peer review recommendation in this regard.

Finland considers the role of free and active civil society essential in terms of democracy, rule of law and human rights. This is a clear focus in the Government Programme. Civil society and Finnish non-governmental organisations play an important role in implementing Finland’s foreign and development policy objectives. There has been an increase in their support during this government term. We are also proud that, for the first time ever, a civil society representative was an observer to the review and hope that other members of the DAC will continue this practice.

                                                            ***

I want to thank the Peer Review team one more time for your thorough work. The recommendations in the report will help to guide our work as we start implementing our new policy documents.

Thank you.