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10.6.2026 | Minister for Foreign Affairs Elina Valtonen will meet Kenya’s Prime Cabinet Secretary and Cabinet Secretary for Foreign and Diaspora Affairs Musalia Mudavadi, India’s Minister of External Affairs Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, and the United Arab Emirates’ Minister of State Lana Nusseibeh on 10–12 June.

7.7.2026 | The Ministry for Foreign Affairs has received approximately 2,200 seasonal work visa applications this year for the purpose of wild-berry picking in Finland. To date, a majority of the applications have been processed, approximately 1,600 applications in total. The processing has revealed indications of a risk of worker exploitation, as well as shortcomings in employers’ compliance with their statutory obligations. The majority of the applications, approximately 1,400, have been refused.

13.6.2025 | Finnish Minister for Foreign Affairs Elina Valtonen will meet Prime Cabinet Secretary of Kenya Musalia Mudavadi, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Benin Olushegun Adjadi Bakari, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Costa Rica Arnoldo André Tinoco and Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs of Thailand Russ Jalichandra in connection with the Kultaranta Talks on 16–17 June.

16.6.2026 | President of the United Nations International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) Alvaro Lario will visit Helsinki on 16–17 June. The topics on the agenda are Finland’s cooperation with IFAD and global food security.

10.3.2026 | The 2026 call for applications for the Joint Innovation Facility (JIF) funding is now open. JIF is designed to strengthen digital, climate-positive innovation activity. The funding will support the expansion of market-ready, digitally enabled innovations through cross-border partnerships.

8.12.2025 | The seventh session of the United Nations Environment Assembly UNEA, the world’s highest-level decision-making body for matters related to the environment, will take place in Nairobi, Kenya from 8 to 12 December 2025. The theme of the session is ‘Advancing sustainable solutions for a resilient planet’. Finland’s UNEA delegation in Nairobi will be led by Minister of Climate and the Environment Sari Multala.

7.6.2024 | Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Ville Tavio will visit Ethiopia and Kenya on 10–14 June.

3.10.2025 | At the presidential session on 3 October, the President of the Republic appointed non-resident Ambassadors to Uganda and Monaco.

5.4.2023 | Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto will visit Nairobi, Kenya, from 6 to 7 April. He will meet Kenya’s Minister of Foreign and Diaspora Affairs Alfred Mutua, leaders of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and other international organisations, and representatives of civil society. Among the topics of the meetings are Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, bilateral relations between Finl...

25.11.2025 | Prime Minister Petteri Orpo represented Finland at the seventh EU-African Union (AU) Summit in Luanda, Angola on 24 and 25 November. The summit was attended by heads of state or government from both continents and by President of the European Council António Costa and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen from the European side.

3.11.2022 | According to Ambassador of Finland to Nairobi Pirkka Tapiola, Kenya is leading the way for economic and regional development in Eastern Africa. Kenya is now on the brink of new beginnings after presidential elections that were exceptionally peaceful.

14.8.2025 | At its session on Thursday 14 August, the Government appointed Timo Olkkonen as the new Deputy Director General of the Department for Africa, the Middle East and Latin America.

30.1.2023 | Minister of Economic Affairs Mika Lintilä will lead a Team Finland visit to Tanzania and Kenya from 30 January to 3 February 2023 to promote exports and internationalisation of companies. The accompanying business delegation will include experts from the education, digitalisation and environmental technology sectors.

25.11.2021 | Finland and Kenya are cooperating to reduce violence against women and girls in Kenya, where gender-based violence has increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. With Finland’s support, Kenya also aims to increase the number of women in leadership positions.

25.4.2025 | At the presidential session on 25 April, the President of the Republic appointed the following persons to serve as heads of missions: Okko-Pekka Salmimies, Bern; Pekka Voutilainen, Hanoi; Jukka Siukosaari, Copenhagen; Riina-Riikka Heikka, Nairobi; Olli Kantanen, Stockholm; Eevamari Laaksonen, Pristina; Minna Laajava, Los Angeles.

18.1.2024 | The budget reductions set out in the Government Programme will focus especially on region and country-specific development cooperation. The Country Programmes with Afghanistan, Kenya, Mozambique and Myanmar will be discontinued during the government term. Reductions will also be made in multilateral cooperation, humanitarian assistance and development policy loans and investments.

23.2.2024 | The world’s highest-level decision-making body for matters related to the environment, the United Nations Environment Assembly UNEA, will convene at its sixth session in Nairobi, Kenya on 26 February–1 March. UNEA-6 will bring UN Member States and representatives of civil society groups, the scientific community and the private sector together to seek solutions to acute environmental challenges. Finland’s UNEA delegation will be led by Minister of Climate and the Environment Kai Mykkänen.

5.12.2023 | The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry will organise two side events and act as a partner in several other events at the UN Climate Conference COP28 in Dubai. The programme themes are sustainable food systems, climate change adaptation and low-carbon construction.

10.6.2026 | Den 10–12 juni träffar utrikesminister Elina Valtonen Kenyas premiärminister och utrikesminister Musalia Mudavadi, Indiens utrikesminister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar och Förenade Arabemiratens kansliminister Lana Nusseibeh.

1.3.2023 | Finland’s new Special Envoy for Climate Change Kerstin Stendahl has been following international climate and environmental negotiations for nearly three decades. Stendahl has held leading positions in the Ministry of the Environment and in the United Nations, among other places.