By Finland Foreign Affairs Ministry,
MINISTER for International Development Pekka Haavisto will visit Sudan and Eritrea on 26–30 May.
In Khartoum, capital of Sudan, the Minister will meet representatives of the Sudanese administration, national and international actors, including representatives of the EU and the UN, and aid workers. The purpose of the visit is to discuss development policy issues, the humanitarian situation, and Sudan’s views on the regional issues in the Horn of Africa region.
In Asmara, capital of Eritrea, the Minister’s programme of meetings will be quite similar to those in Sudan. Eritrea is showing cautious signs of opening up to the external world after years of isolation policy. The UN agencies are back in operation, and the Eritrean administration appreciates the work performed by them.
Minister Haavisto visits the region also in his capacity as co-chair of the International Dialogue on Peace building and State building (IDPS).
The dialogue underscores that when peace negotiations are proceeding in conflict situations, it is also important to invest in arrangement of a national and inclusive reconciliation process, and peace building and state building. Achievement of a lasting peace calls for development of a good and transparent governance and institutions, intervention in corruption, enhancement of the economic circumstances of the citizens, and building of trust between the state and the citizens.
Before travelling to Sudan and Eritrea, Minister Haavisto met Mahboub Maalim, Executive Secretary of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) for the Horn of Africa region, and a delegation of female Members of Parliament from the area in Helsinki on 13 May.
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