Finland and the Council of Europe, bringing human rights from the conference table to your kitchen table

The Council of Europe works for you. We want to give visibility to the role, standards and work of the Council of Europe in its member states, to show how Council of Europe membership has helped achieve particular results or changes. Our aim, through a variety of events and actions, is to highlight ways in which the Council of Europe’s action has helped improve the life of individuals and contributed to improving people’s enjoyment of fundamental rights.

Sini Paukkunen-Mykkänen, Suurlähettiläs, Suomen pysyvä edustaja Euroopan neuvostossa

Whether it is the impact of the European Convention on Human Rights at national level, or the Council of Europe's work in many fields, such as working to abolish the death penalty or to ensure freedom of expression and freedom of the media, or to adress online and technology-facilitated violence against women through the Istanbul Convention and Budapest Convention on Cybercrime, the Council of Europe has achieved a lot since 1949. View achievements »

Events

Ongoing

• Workshops and online training course on strengthening the participation of children and youth. This is part of a broader project of the Ministry of Justice
• Blog articles are regularly published in Finnish, Swedish and English on the website of the Council of Europe Human Rights Day

4 May 2023

• Council of Europe Human Rights Day in Turku with the Deputy Secretary General as keynote speaker. The event will consist of three parts: panel discussions, research seminar, and a public event for local citizens.

3-4 March 2023 

• Series of interviews published in Åbo Underrättelser with Finnish citizens who work at the CoE or the Permanent Representation of Finland:
  • Från Karis och ÅA till toppjobb ute i världen – Nina Nordström är van vid att vara Pekka Haavistos vikarie
  • Fredrik Holm tog sats vid ÅA för karriär i Europas hjärta – det egna hjärtat klappar för Norrskata och Åbolands skärgård
  • Byråkraten behövs – Mats Lindberg från Åbo tar fajten för människorätt med andra verktyg än de högljudda aktivisterna

20 January 2023

• The Council of Europe and Finnish civil society: A spin-off from a CINGO event organized by the PACE delegation. The event offered practical guide for civil society and led to suggestions for further information events. 

15 September 2022

• Panel discussion “Municipalities as Human-Rights Defenders” held at the Kuntamarkkinat annual municipal fair in Helsinki.