Former Finnish President Joins Board
of International IDEA

Press Release:

Former Finnish President Joins Board of International IDEA

Former President of Finland Martti Ahtisaari will join the Board of Directors of International IDEA (International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance), it was announced at the conclusion of the annual meeting of the International IDEA Council held at the Institute’s Stockholm headquarters last week.

Mr Ahtisaari was President of Finland for six years (March 1994 – February 2000). Since leaving office he has continued to play an active role in international political life. In the international arena Mr Ahtisaari is well-known for his work in Southern Africa, having served as UN Special Representative in Namibia in the late 1980s and leading the UN operation in Namibia (UNTAG) from 1989-90. More recently, he played an important role in the Kosovo conflict in his capacity as US-EU Envoy, mediating an agreement with Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic last June that paved the way for an end to the fighting in the region.

In May this year along with Cyril Ramaphosa, the former Secretary General of the South African National Congress Mr Ahtisaari accepted an invitation from UK Prime Minister Tony Blair to become one of two international monitors of the weapons decommissioning process in Northern Ireland.

Mr Ahtisaari’s Council appointment follows the recent arrival of Ms Cheryl Carolus, formerly Acting Secretary-General of the African National Congress (ANC) and now the South African High Commissioner in London, on the Board of Directors of International IDEA.

For more information about International IDEA, contact: 
Mark Salter, Senior Information Officer 
International IDEA, Strömsborg, 103 34 Stockholm, Sweden
Phone +46-8-698 37 00, Fax: +46-8-20 24 22
email: info@idea.int

The International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA) was founded in February 1995. The Institute’s overall objective is to promote and advance sustainable democracy world-wide and to improve and consolidate electoral processes. There are currently 19 member-states: Australia, Barbados, Belgium, Botswana, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Denmark, Finland, India, Mauritius, Namibia, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, and Uruguay. There are also five associate members: International Federation of Journalists, International Press Institute, Parliamentarians for Global Action, the Inter-American Institute for Human Rights and Transparency International. International IDEA has formal agreements with the International Commission of Jurists, the Inter-Parliamentary Union, the United Nations Development Programme, the Inter-American Development Bank, and co-operates closely with Switzerland.