Partners in Development series brought up the role of companies, organisation and universities in development cooperation

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs together with the Finnish Development NGOs Fingo and Finnish chambers of commerce held a new kind of series of live broadcasts, entitled Partners in Development, in March and April. The series comprised seven events, in which various bodies from different parts of Finland presented their contribution to development cooperation.

The discussions were broadcast live on the Foreign Ministry’s Twitter and Facebook channels, where viewers were also able to comment and express their ideas. Nearly 10,000 people attended the events on Twitter and Facebook.

Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Ville Skinnari toured Finland virtually and spoke with representatives of different companies, organisations and universities. Various themes relating to development cooperation were discussed, including energy sector, innovations, forest expertise, health technology, education, and climate solutions. One event concentrated on funding and partnership opportunities.

The aim was to bring Finns’ notions of development cooperation up to date. To enliven the discussion, speakers showed photos illustrating their work and experiences in the field.

“The discussions brought up well the expertise of Finnish companies and civil society organisations and their role in efforts to achieve the sustainable development goals. The views expressed by researchers broadened the picture. The tour emhasised the fact that sustainable results can be reached only by means of working together,” says Director of the Unit for Communications on Sustainable Development and Trade Ville Cantell.

Many speakers noted that civil society organisations have valuable experience of and knowledge about the operating environments in developing countries. Partnerships are useful for companies and organisations, but people in the developing world benefit from them, too.

Representatives of companies said that they appreciate the work done in Finnish diplomatic and consular missions abroad. The missions’ prestige services and networking events have been helpful in the launch of many projects. 

Shortened videos of the discussions are available for viewing on the Foreign Ministry's YouTube channel. Recordings of the discussions (in Finnish) can be viewed later on the Foreign Ministry’s Twitter and Facebook channels.

The series was implemented in cooperation with Kaskas Media.

 

Hanna Päivärinta

The author works as Communications Officer at the Department for Communications of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs.