UNFPA Executive Director Natalia Kanem to visit Finland

Dr. Natalia Kanem, the Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), will visit Finland on 10–12 October. She will meet Finnish Minister for Foreign Affairs Elina Valtonen and members of the Foreign Affairs Committee of Parliament. Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Ville Tavio met the Executive Director during the High Level Week of the UN General Assembly in New York in September.

At the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Kanem will participate in annual consultations on UNFPA’s work and results. The meetings will discuss ways to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030, among other topics. UNFPA makes efforts to end maternal mortality, gender-based violence and other harmful practices, including child marriages, and to strengthen family planning.

UNFPA has achieved very good results. In 2022–23, UNFPA’s efforts prevented over 31 million unintended pregnancies and nearly 10 million dangerous abortions. UNFPA calculates that in 2023, Finland’s core funding helped to avert close to 500,000 unintended pregnancies and save more than 4,000 girls from genital mutilation.

Every day, approximately 800 women die from complications related to pregnancy or childbirth. This is about one woman every two minutes. More than half of these women die in the midst of humanitarian crises and conflicts.  Almost all of these deaths could be avoided if more was invested in women’s health.

“ We can and must do better. It’s time to end the discrimination and exclusion that women continue to experience when they seek sexual and reproductive health care”, Director Kanem says.

UNFPA studies show that every dollar spent on family planning and maternal health in developing countries will yield 8.40 dollars in benefits to families and societies.

“UNFPA is one of Finland’s biggest UN partners, and the organisation’s work in crises in different regions is in line with Finland’s commitment to promoting the rights and status of women and girls. Access to health care services not only improves women’s and girls’ immediate wellbeing, but it also promotes economic growth,” says Minister Tavio.

New technologies can also be used to improve the status of women and girls. “In this respect, Finland has a lot to offer to UNFPA’s gender equality work. Finland will continue to be one of the strongest supporters of UNFPA, both politically and economically,” Minister Tavio says.

Finland’s development policy priorities include improving the rights and sexual and reproductive health and rights of women and girls. UNFPA is one of the biggest recipients of core funding among the UN specialised agencies that Finland supports. Finland’s core funding totals EUR 25 million in 2024. In addition, Finland has funded country programmes in countries such as Tanzania.