Representatives and steering groups

The National Council of Women of Finland (NJKL) • The National Council of Women of Finland • Kvinnoorganisationernas Centralförbund
District 20 member since 1991

The National Council of Women of Finland promotes gender equality and the human rights of girls and women together with its member organisations.

NJKL honorary members: 2001 Minister Elisabeth Rehn, honorary member of Zonta International | 1995 Tuulikki Petäjäniemi, Master of Laws, Zonta Club of Tuusula-Kerava-Järvenpää

UN Women Finland • Finlands UN Women ry
District 20 member since 2009

UN Women Finland is the UN’s gender equality organisation, which works to improve the status of women and girls around the world and to achieve equality where women and men work as partners and benefit from development, human rights and peace.

UN Women Finland delegation: Professor Helena Ranta, forensic dentist, Zonta Club of Raseborg-Raasepori.

Our goal is a world where being born a girl is as valuable as being born a boy, and where everyone has equal opportunities. Our vision is that by 2025, more and more Finns will support equality work through us. Find out more about our work in Finland and around the world in our newsletter: https://unwomen.fi/tilaa-uutiskirje/ Join us in our work for equality!

Responsible Donations Association (VALA ry) • The Finnish Fundraising Association
District 20 member since 2010

VaLa is a cooperation network, Responsible Donations Association VaLa is a politically and religiously independent cooperation network that represents non-profit organisations.

The UN Association of Finland • Finlands FN-förbund ry
District 20 member since 2009

The UN Association of Finland is a non-governmental organisation that educates and trains people about global responsibility and opportunities to influence, communicates and produces information about the UN and its activities, and influences Finnish UN policy.

Finnish Women, Peace and Security (1325) Network

The Finnish Women, Peace and Security Network is a collaborative network of 30 civil society organisations, researchers, experts and other individual members, whose goal is to promote the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1325. The network is administered and coordinated by UN Women Finland with the support of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security was unanimously adopted by the UN Security Council in 2000. The resolution aims to protect women and girls in armed conflicts and support their participation in conflict prevention and peacebuilding.

Conflicts and wars have significant gendered impacts that are often overlooked in peacebuilding and conflict prevention and resolution. For example, sexual violence is used as a tactic of war, from which girls and women in particular find it difficult to protect themselves. Furthermore, only a few per cent of peace negotiators and signatories to peace agreements have been women in the last couple of decades.

District 20 joined the network in 2011

Network representative: Marja Koivula, Lahti

Academic Women • Let’s Read Together Network Steering Group
District 20 joined the network in 2007

In spring 2007, Zonta International District 20 and Unifem Finland (now UN Women Finland) launched a volunteer-based campaign to expand the Myyrmäki group’s teaching model nationwide. The campaign was funded by the sale of 40,000 yellow rose reflectors by members.

After the campaign ended, Zonta sought a successor for its work. The Finnish Association of Academic Women (Finlands Kvinnliga Akademikers Förbund ry) stepped in, as supporting the education of girls and women is one of the organisation’s main objectives. Since then, the activities of the Let’s Read Together network have become an integral part of the Union’s work, which it intends to continue under its wing in the coming years.

The Luetaan yhdessä network was funded by the Finnish Cultural Foundation and the Ministry of Employment and the Economy from 2011 to 2015. In 2016, the network came under the funding of the Finnish Slot Machine Association (RAY, now STEA).

Steering group member Katri Yli-Viikari Zonta Club of Helsinki I