"Eritrea is showing cautious signs of opening up to the external world ...
UN agencies are back in operation, and the Eritrean administration
appreciates the work performed by them"
http://www.formin.fi/public/default.aspx?contentid=306849&nodeid=15146&contentlan=2&culture=en-US
Press Releases, 5/26/2014 Minister Haavisto to Sudan and Eritrea
*Press release 124/2014 26 May 2014*
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 Peacebuilding and Statebuilding (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 peacebuilding and
statebuilding. 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.
Additional information: Ilkka Nordberg, Counsellor, Unit for East and West
Africa, tel. +358 295 350 536; and Milma Kettunen, Press Attaché to the
Minister, tel. +358 40 522 9869
Received on Mon May 26 2014 - 11:14:16 EDT