President Halonen in the United States: We must solve the food crisis together

According President of the Republic of Finland Tarja Halonen, the food crisis is a global issue that can only be solved multilaterally. Without international efforts, national actions are ineffective. "Unfortunately, those hardest hit by the food crises are the poorest and the most vulnerable. There is, for example, evidence that female-headed households have greater proportional welfare losses than male-headed households due to the increased prices", President Halonen said in her address at the Honorary Degree Ceremony in Duluth. President Halonen was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws degree at the University of Minnesota Duluth on Friday 25, July. President of the Republic of Finland Tarja Halonen and Dr Pentti Arajärvi visited the United States between 23 and 28 July 2008. President Halonen attended the Finnish-American FinnFest 2008 event in Duluth.

President Halonen was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws degree at the University of Minnesota Duluth. Photo: Brett Groehler / University of Minnesota Duluth

The high food prices affect people living in developing countries most severely. "For many of the 800 million people who are already affected by chronic hunger, higher food prices can be devastating. It is not surprising that this is provoking social unrest across the developing world", President Halonen noted. On the other hand, high prices may encourage increased food production and enhance agricultural and rural development in many low-income countries. President Halonen emphasised that solution requires similar co-operation to climate change and stressed that there cannot talk about multilateral action without the United States.

There are several reasons behind the high food prices, but first there has to be action to alleviate the humanitarian catastrophes in developing countries caused by the soaring food prices. "Secondly, the only way to address the increasing demand on food is to produce more food especially in developing countries", President Halonen said.

According to President Halonen, industrialised countries need to rethink their national agricultural policies. Additionally, there should be a focus on developing of second generation biofuels, which do not have same impact on food production, and on enhancing the fairness and transparency of international agricultural markets. President Halonen also underlined in her address the role of education in alleviating poverty and its status in Finnish society.

Photo: Brett Groehler / University of Minnesota Duluth

FinnFest shows Finnish culture

On Saturday, President Halonen attended the FinnFest 2008 event in Duluth. The theme for this five-day FinnFest is "Sharing the Spirit of Finland”. The festival offers a varied display of Finnish culture and marks the 25th FinnFest USA event. Minnesota has one of the largest per centage of population who have Finnish roots in the United States. The President’s visit highlights the importance of the Finnish-American community in maintaining and deepening the relationship between the two countries.

President Halonen also attended the Panel of Women Leaders, along with the former U.S. Ambassador to Finland, Ms Marilyn Ware, and other women leaders. President Halonen and Dr Arajärvi returned to Finland on Monday, 28 July.

Speech by President Halonen at the Honorary Ceremony

FinnFest 2008