During the state visit of the President of the Republic of Finland Sauli Niinistö to the Republic of South Africa, a Letter of Intent on Co-Operation in Peace Mediation was signed on 25 April between the Permanent State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Finland, Mr Jukka Salovaara, and the Director General of the Department of International Relations and Cooperation of the Republic of South Africa (DIRCO), Mr. Zane Dangor.
The countries will aim to support more inclusive and participatory peace mediation processes and to promote mediation at multilateral fora. Finland and South Africa both have longstanding experience in the field of peace mediation and the Letter of Intent gives further impetus to the cooperation between the countries.
Peace mediation has for a long time been a foreign policy priority for Finland, which was one of the co-founders on the UN Group on Friends on Mediation in 2010. South Africa is also a member of this group. For over a decade, Finland has supported the African Union in enhancing its capacities to concretely support peace mediation processes on the African continent. In 2020, a Centre for Peace Mediation was established at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland.
“Finland’s Africa Strategy recognises the need to increase political dialogue with African countries. The Letter of Intent also supports this objective”, says Katja Ahlfors, Director of Centre for Peace Mediation.
