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Progress of the government action plan to combat racism The government action plan to combat racism and promote equality implements the policies set out in the equality statement issued by the Government. The selected measures are based on an asse...

Discretionary government grants for developing civil society organisations’ work to combat racism In May and June 2025, the Prime Minister’s Office organised a call for applications for discretionary government grants to support civil society orga...

Promoting equality Prime Minister Petteri Orpo’s Government is committed to promoting equality, gender equality and non-discrimination in Finnish society. Action plan for combating racism brings together means to build a more equal Finland The gov...

PUBLICATIONS OF THE FINNISH GOVERNMNET 2024:43 A New Boost for Equality in Finland Government action plan to combat racism and promote equality The government action plan for combating racism and promoting equality is based on the equality stateme...

21.10.2025 | The Prime Minister’s Office has awarded a total of EUR 240,000 in discretionary government grants for work to combat racism in 2025–2026. The grants were available to civil society organisations representing ethnic minorities and were intended to strengthen the organisations’ core activities and develop new ways to combat racism.

The key tasks of the system were to produce and compile information on discrimination in Finnish society, to increase cooperation between professionals working with discrimination-related matters and to promote the utilisation of information on discrimination in the official decision-making. Awareness of the need for information on discrimination has increased in society, and information is being produced by several parties.

9.3.2026 | On 9 March, Prime Minister Petteri Orpo hosted a roundtable discussion with a group of girls and young women of immigrant background from various parts of Finland. The discussion focused on equality in working life and the effects of racism on young people’s wellbeing and hope for the future. 

13.2.2026 | An interim report has been published on the project implementing the Government’s Equality Statement. The report brings together information on the project’s progress between 2023 and 2026. According to the report, the work has already led to legislative reforms and increased concrete anti‑racism measures across different sectors.

12.5.2025 | Civil society organisations representing ethnic minorities can now apply for discretionary government grants to develop their work to combat racism in 2025–2026. The Prime Minister’s Office opened the call for applications on 12 May.

24.2.2026 | The Finnish Government discussed recommendations, decisions and conclusions issued to Finland by international human rights monitoring bodies. Based on the discussion, the state secretaries of the parties in Government decided on further measures related to the recommendations. This was the second discussion held as part of the implementation of the Government’s equality statement.

5.9.2024 | On 5 September, the Government adopted a resolution on an action plan for combating racism and promoting equality. The action plan elaborates on the statement on promoting equality, gender equality and non-discrimination in Finnish society, which the Government submitted to Parliament on 31 August 2023.

27.8.2024 | The campaign against racism, carried out as part of the Government’s statement on promoting equality, gender equality and non-discrimination, invites all communities, companies, associations and organisations to build an equitable Finland free of racism through concrete measures.

18.12.2024 | The Prime Minister's Office organised the first national anti-racism forum for civil society organisations on Friday 13 December at Paasitorni in Helsinki. The event, which is part of the Government’s action plan for combating racism and promoting equality, brought together some 170 professionals from across Finland who are working to combat racism.

19.12.2025 | In a meeting that began on Thursday 18 December, the EU leaders reached an agreement on significant additional funding for Ukraine. In line with the agreement, the European Council will provide a EUR 90 billion loan to Ukraine for 2026 and 2027.

18.3.2025 | Differences and disparities related to origin and ethnicity are strongly visible in various areas of children’s and young people’s lives, such as education, working life, health, wellbeing, inclusion, family life and safety. This is evident from a study by the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) on the realisation of ethnic equality among people under 30 years of age in Finland.

25.2.2026 | Security policy topics, which have dominated international coverage on Finland since 2022, continued as the key theme in 2025. The number of news headlines about Finland was lower than the previous year, but President of the Republic Alexander Stubb assumed a significantly more visible role on the international stage. Country brand surveys indicate that Finland’s brand has become more positive, and awareness of Finland has increased since 2024.

11.3.2025 | Prime Minister Petteri Orpo invited representatives from Finland’s six largest cities (Helsinki, Espoo, Tampere, Vantaa, Oulu and Turku), immigrant organisations, religious communities and public officials to explore ways to promote good relations between population groups in Finland. The event was organised in cooperation with the City of Vantaa on 11 March.

12.3.2025 | A survey by We Foundation shows that groups for extracurricular activity organised by municipalities free of charge as part of the school day provide the majority of the participants with a safe space that is free of bullying, discrimination and racism. The results confirm that groups based on the Finnish model for leisure activities increase student wellbeing and are the only opportunity for many children and young people to have a hobby. The survey covers 20 municipalities of different sizes.

16.11.2023 | The Government has set up a project to implement the equality statement submitted to Parliament earlier this year. The statement contains a number of measures to promote equality and combat racism in Finnish society. Many of them are based on the Government Programme, but the statement also includes new measures. A more detailed action plan for the project will be drawn up in spring 2024.

14.10.2024 | The Government discussed the recommendations, decisions and conclusions issued to Finland by the international human rights monitoring bodies on 3 October. The discussion was held as part of the implementation of the Government's equality statement. Based on the discussion, the State Secretaries of the parties in Government decided on further measures related to the recommendations.