Key takeaways from the Nordic-African Foreign Ministers’ Meeting

The Nordic-African Foreign Ministers’ meeting took place in Helsinki from the 13th to 15th of June 2022. It included five ministers from the Nordics and 20 from African countries. It was a pleasure for Think Africa to have been invited to attend and participate in a number of the sessions that took place. Strengthening multilateral cooperation between the Nordic and African countries was the driving force of this forum. 

This is of importance, especially with war-outcries heard all over the world, in Africa and the war in Ukraine, and growing terrorism. All heads of delegations agree that the international rule-based order is under threat and more needs to be done regarding early response to the threat of peace. Attention must be paid to prevention measures, mediation strategies, and collaborative efforts from both the European Union, United Nations, and Africa on a global level to ensure peace and security.

“There needs to be equal representation of African countries to build a stronger strategic partnership as no country can undertake global challenges alone. We are all in this together,” said the Foreign Minister of Tanzania. The time to define a new world order has come, a rule based international order built on confidence, trust, and legitimacy in one another. Watch the press conference here for more.

The meeting began with a reception on the 13th, which was hosted by the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Finland, Pekka Haavisto, and brought together different stakeholders for a relaxed evening of networking. Our Chairperson, Myriam Munezero, was in attendance, among other African diaspora representatives. At the reception, our Chairperson recommended to the organisers that in future, a diaspora-specific session should be organised as they are an important part of bilateral relations development. 

The next day, the forum kicked off with a Nordic-African Youth Panel that was moderated by Mr. Pekka Haavisto, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Finland. On the panel were Mrs. Iinge Lapp (Namibia, member of Think Africa), Ms. Wamweni Samundengu (African Union), Ms. Lilli Somero (Finland), and Mr. Akseli Rouvari (Finland). The audience included heads of delegations, delegates and invited guests from the Nordic and African countries. 

During the panel discussion, the youth were asked a series of questions about peace and security, sustainable societies, multilateral cooperation, climate change, migration, the role of young people in building and sustaining global peace, and youth participation in political decision-making and process.

The Nordic-African Youth Panel emphasised that peace and security remain top priorities in modern society, especially with the current conflict in Ukraine, Northern African countries, and Mozambique.The more there are instabilities in the world, the more we continue to see migration issues on the rise, ‘’humans are made to move around in search of better living conditions and when conditions in any given society are not good or not meeting our needs, we will be forced to move in search of better living standards’’  Young people need to feel safe, protected, and supported and have a guaranteed future in which they can get an education to develop themselves and learn new skills. 

“We, as young people, need to follow up and hold our leaders accountable as it is one thing to be given a voice, but it is a question of if they are listening and will they prioritise the urgent needs of the world in order to safeguard our future!” Ms. Iinge added after the panel discussion.

Many of the Ministers’ that attended, reported the Forum having been a great opportunity for bilateral relation building. Next year’s Ministerial Meeting is planned to take place in Algeria in May.