Ambassador at large for Intercultural and Interreligious Dialogue Processes, Pekka Metso took part in a meeting of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations and met with, inter alia, various leaders of UN while he visited New York.
The United Nations is very interested in the work that Finland does to fight against violent extremism, emphasizes Ambassador at large for Intercultural and Interreligious Dialogue Processes Pekka Metso.
Metso visited United Nations on January, during which he participated in United Nations Alliance of the Civilization’s (UNAOC) meeting and met with, inter alia, the UN’s leaders, such as the Secretary-General’s Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, Adama Dieng.
“In all my meetings there rose up a clear message that UN is very interested in Finland’s work against violence extremism and of Finland’s experiences in dialogue between religions”, Metso states.
In particular, the trust police enjoy and the transparent handling of matters in the society gained interest during the meetings.
Related to efforts to fight against violent extremism in Finland, there is among other things an Anchor model. The purpose of the model is to intervene at an early state in the delinquency of children and adolescents, as well as in domestic violence. There is also a program called “Exit”, which aims to prevent radicalization and to integrate individuals into society.
Concerning the dialogue between religions, Finnish Antti Pentikäinen chairs a peace mediation network of religious and traditional leaders that was set up by the UN. Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland is financing the network.
“The network led by Mr. Pentikäinen does important work. This approach offers new ways to peace mediation.”
Mika M. Niskanen
Updated 2/12/2016
