Martti Ahtisaari is a famous Finnish politician and diplomat who served as the 10th President of Finland from 1994 to 2000. He has dedicated over 45 years to peacemaking and development issues through his work with the United Nations and nongovernmental organizations. Ahtisaari is known for successfully negotiating peace agreements in Namibia, Indonesia, and Northern Ireland. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2008 for his important peacemaking efforts around the world.

1. Finnish Culture
By
Musa Raza
Professor : Eric Pollock

2. Martti Ahtisaari
• Born in 1937 in Viipuri, Finland (now Vyborg, Russia)
• A famous Finnish politician & the 10th
President of
Finland(1994-2000).
• Noble Peace Prize laureate (October 2008).
• United Nations Diplomat & Peace mediator.
• Well known for peacemaking & development issues since
past 45 years.

3. Childhood and studies
• Father was an NCO army mechanic.
• Spent most of his childhood in Kuopio, completed High school at Oulu in
1952.
• After 2 years of distance learning studies qualified as a school
teacher in 1959.
• In 1960 Moved to Karachi, Pakistan to lead YMCA
physical education training establishment and stayed till 1963.
• Joined NGOs and AIESEC
during 1963-1965.
• Knows Finnish, Swedish, French,
German & English.

4. Diplomatic Career
• Joined Ministry of Foreign Affairs Finland in 1965, various positions until
1972
• At the age of 36 became the Ambassador of Finland to Tanzania and was
accredited to Zambia, Somalia, Mozambique (1975-1976)
• Served as UN Commissioner for Namibia (1977-1981) & UN
Undersecretary General for Admin & Management (1987-1991)
• Head the UN Transition
Assistance Group (UNTAG)
as Special Representative
in Namibia(1989)
Photo: Tanzania,
1973

5. “Mara” for president
• Accepted the candidacy of “Social Democratic Party” (SDP) and began the
Presidential Campaign in elections of 1993.
• Won the elections quite narrowly against Elisabeth Rehn from Swedish
People’s Party (RKP).
• Became the President of Finland in Feb 1994 and held his office from
March 1994-February 2000.
• Reasons of fame were untarnished political image and vision of Finland
being an active participant in international affairs.
• Political popularity was due to speaking about domestic issues such as
unemployment, meeting the ordinary citizens on monthly basis.
• Favoured pluralism and religious tolerance publically.

6. • Known as “Matka-Mara”, travelled around the world and Finland a lot.
• Visited one province a month during his presidency fulfilling his promise
during his campaign.
• Strongly supported Finland’s entrance into EU in 1994 Referendum.
• Had several negotiations with Viktor Chernomyrdin & Slobodan Milosevic
to end fight in Yugoslav (Kosovo) in 1999.
• Last powerful president of Finland prior to modifications in constitution
for reduction of presidential powers.
• Regular donator of Unemployed People’s Organization
• & Christian social
organizations.
Photo: Lapland, 1993

7. Peace Negotiations &
Development
• Founded Crisis Management Initiative(CMI).
• Inspected IRA weapon dumps for Independent International Commission
on Decommissioning (IICD) as part of Northern Ireland Peace process.
(2000-2001)
• Lead peace negotiations between Free Aceh Movement (GAM) &
Indonesian government, negotiations ended in August 2005
by signing disarmament of GAM rebels.
• Consulted peace negotiations for Kosovo crisis.
Photo: Aceh anniversary
celebrations in 2006

8. Achievements
• Noble Prize for peace making in 2008
• Honorary citizen of Namibia for working to secure the independence from
Republic of South Africa.
• Awarded J. William Fulbright Prize for International understanding by the
Fulbright Association in recognition of his work as peacemaker in some of
the world's most troubled areas.
• In 2008 awarded with honorary degree by University College, London.
• Received the 2007 UNESCO
Felix Houphouet-Boigny Peace
Prize, for his lifetime
contribution to world peace.
Photo: Namibia 2010

9. Thankyou for your
attention

10. Thankyou for your
attention