The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) concentrates on Finland’s development policy. The Department for Development Policy within the MFA handles all matters related to development cooperation. Finland’s development policy is also monitored by a Development Policy Committee which is an advisory body for development policy appointed by the Government. By giving advice, the Development Policy Committee steers Finnish development policy work, evaluates the quality and effectiveness of development policy and monitors levels of public funding for development aid.

Finland’s development policy aims at promoting a more equitable division of the benefits of globalisation. In line with the MDGs, the overarching goal of Finland’s development policy is to contribute to the eradication of extreme poverty. With its development cooperation programmes, Finland wants to strengthen environments conducive to development in the poorest countries in order to improve the premise for investments and trade and to stimulate economic growth.
Finland’s development policy is steered by the government ‘Resolution on Development Policy’ from February 2004. Apart from the eradication of extreme poverty, the resolution’s main principles include:

• Broad national commitment and coherence in all policy areas
• Commitment to a rights-based approach
• The principle of sustainable development
• The concept of comprehensive financing for development
• Partnerships for development
• Respect for the integrity and responsibility of the developing countries and their people
• Long-term commitment and transparency

The following cross-cutting themes are supported throughout all Finnish development policy:

•  Promotion of the rights and the status of women and girls, and promotion of gender and social equality
• Promotion of the rights of groups that are easily excluded, particularly children, with disabilities, indigenous people and ethnic minorities, and the promotion of equal opportunities for participation
• Combating HIV/AIDS; HIV/AIDS as a health problem and as a social problem

Finland’s total ODA was €924 million in 2009. This represents 0.54% of Finland’s GNI, making it the only Nordic country falling short of the UN target of 0.7%.
The underlying objective of Finland’s bilateral development cooperation is to enable the partner country to have ownership of the development process. Bilateral cooperation in the form of projects and programmes is limited to selected long-term partner countries. Aid will be concentrated on countries having the preconditions for positive development.
Bilateral grant-based cooperation is adopted in projects that:

• Enhance peace and security
• Promote cooperation with the private sector from the point of view of comprehensive development funding
• Support the realization of human rights, democracy and good governance

Apart from Finland’s development activities as a member of the EU, the UN organisations and the international development and environmental financing institutions are central to Finland’s multilateral development cooperation. The UN and its agencies and programmes constitute a significant channel of the country’s multilateral development assistance. Finland supports the UNDP, UNICEF, UNFPA as well as the World Food Programme with multi-year commitments. Of the development financing institutions, Finland co-operates with the World Bank Group and several regional development financing institutions.

Finland supports SRHR and HIV/AIDS programmes through a comprehensive reproductive health approach that emphasises prevention and especially targets women and children. In particular, the government aims to strengthen national health systems in order to create the preconditions for effective and sustainable prevention, treatment and care programmes.

According to the government’s Development Policy guidelines for the Health Sector, Finland has adopted the following focal areas:

• Strengthening of healthcare systems
• Primary healthcare
• Preventative healthcare and education
• Maternal and child health services, including a broad set of reproductive health services
• A holistic approach to HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment
• Occupational healthcare

Moreover, Finland supports the “Three Ones” principle developed by UNAIDS: one internationally agreed HIV/AIDS action framework, one national HIV/AIDS co-ordinating authority in each, and one agreed country-level monitoring and evaluation system.

The Finnish government channels most of its HIV/AIDS support through UN agencies in order to strengthen global co-ordination and enhance the efficiency of the fight against the pandemic. In addition, Finland is also allocating funds to NGOs for activities which complement the work of national governments.

In 2005, Finland contributed €7 million to the UNAIDS budget, €1 million of which went to the “Global Coalition on Women and AIDS programme”. UNFPA received €14.15 million the same year. Estimates of the Resource Flows Project put the total amount of Finnish government spent on population and HIV/AIDS activities in 2008 at €32 million.

Civil Society organisations (CSOs) play an important role in Finnish development cooperation. The Finnish government views NGOs as important agents in the development process as they can provide more direct channels for cooperation at the grassroots level, thus creating more open and participatory societies in partner countries. The work of CSOs is also regarded as being cost-efficient and effective in reaching the most vulnerable parts of society. The government encourages Northern and Southern organisations to work together to reach common objectives in a two-way learning process. Thus, the nature and contents of NGO cooperation should be bottom-up, based on mutual interests.

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs has established the following general objectives for its support to NGOs: 

• NGO support should aim at strengthening the development of self-reliant and democratic civic organisations, especially targeting grassroots level initiatives reaching the poorest population groups
• NGO support should aim at widening cooperation relationships beyond official channels to the level of people-to-people
• NGO support should aim at supporting and encouraging the poorest groups in order to enable them to take care of their own development
• NGOs should foster a sustainable social development in order to establish more self-reliant production patterns
• NGO support should aim at providing ordinary Finnish citizens with possibilities for direct and personal co-operative experiences with people and organisations from developing countries
• NGOs should widen Finnish development cooperation to countries with which Finland does not practice official development cooperation

Approximately 25% of Finland’s country and region-specific cooperation in Africa, and approximately 10% of Finland’s total public development cooperation, is channelled through NGOs.

In 2009, the MFA has supported the development cooperation and information activities of Finnish NGOs with approximately €84 million.
 

Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland: Development Policy Programme (2007)

Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland: Africa in Finnish Development Policy.

Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland: Finish Development Policy Guidelines for the Health Sector.

Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland: Development Policy Government Resolution(2004).

Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland: Development Cooperation Manual for Non-Governmental Organisations

Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland

OECD Development Assistance Committee