Lecture by President of the Republic of Finland Tarja Halonen at Rafael Landivar University in Guatemala on 1 June 2004

It is a great pleasure and honour for me to visit Guatemala and a very special pleasure to speak here at Rafael Landivar University today. Thank you for inviting me and for coming in such numbers to listen to the president of a small and distant country.

The last time I visited your beautiful country was in February 1998, when I was on an official trip as Finland's foreign minister. That visit made a great impression on me. In addition to political discussions I had a chance to see Tikal and Antigua, with its busy and colourful Parque Central.

In Tikal I climbed to the top of the Temple of the Great Jaguar. The view over Tikal and the surrounding jungle was dazzling. Tikal also opened a view of Guatemala's and Central America's dazzling history and culture - a culture and civilization that was in a class by itself when it flourished.

The Maya and their culture are also familiar to Finns, though only in a sketchy way, I must admit. Finns' lively interest in Maya culture was evidenced by two internationally significant exhibitions that were arranged in 1997. These attracted over 100,000 visitors - quite a lot in a country with only a little over five million inhabitants.

The Popol Vuh, the sacred book of the Quiché Maya, is also to some extent familiar to us. The Finnish publisher of the Popol Vuh provides this vivid description: "Stories concerning the creation of the world and man, the adventures of young gods, the eternal battle between good and evil. The Popol Vuh is the key to the lost Maya culture and offers a Mayan view of basic theological issues. In addition to its cultural value it is an exciting collection of adventures in which the evil forces are defeated after many bloody and intriguing turns." It is no wonder that the work is already in its eighth edition in Finland.

The popularity of the Popol Vuh can be explained partly by the fact that our own national epic, the Kalevala, could be described in similar words.
Ladies and gentlemen,

Relations between Finland and Guatemala have grown closer since the mid-1990s. We supported the peace process in Guatemala, and since the signing of the peace agreement our cooperation has intensified.

Together with the United Nations Development Programme we are involved in a broad human rights education project here at Rafael Landivar University. As part of this project we have supported human rights education for Maya women by arranging weekend courses in mountain areas.

A bilingual education project that began in April is intended to improve the indigenous population's possibilities to attend university. The Maya would then be in a better position to participate in building Guatemalan society at all levels.

Another new project is the strengthening of Guatemala's human rights ombudsman. In the pilot stage a mobile human rights office has been visiting the mountain villages in Huehuetenango, distributing information and hearing complaints. A decision will be made concerning the expansion of the activities on the basis of experiences from this pilot stage. I deeply hope that experience will be positive, because we gladly support the ombudsman's work on behalf of citizens.

In recent decades the parliamentary ombudsman institution has become the symbol of democracy, the rule of law and respect for human rights around the world.

The ombudsman system originated in Sweden in the early 19th century. Finland's system was established next, in the early 20th century. To begin with the ombudsman focused on monitoring compliance with legislation enacted by Parliament, particularly on the basis of citizens' complaints. Since the 1960s this constitutional project has expanded from Europe to the rest of the world and has developed along the way.

Nowadays the ombudsman system is in use in different forms in over a hundred countries around the world. To my knowledge Guatemala was the first Latin American country to establish an ombudsman, back in the early 1980s. Nearly every country in the region has followed this fine example. In Latin American the ombudsman generally focuses on promoting human rights.

Europe is also characterized by the fact that a well-operating society, in addition to an open market economy, must have an efficient public administration that guarantees citizens general education and opportunities for higher education, social services, health care, legality and security. In this way public administration promotes important human rights.

In recent decades public administration in Europe has been criticized, sometimes harshly, for being too big and costly and for bureaucracy and slowness. As a result of discussion, public administration has been reformed and developed. Its scope has been revised and structures have been lightened. Activities have also been made more flexible. Administration's basic task of providing social services has not changed, however. The most important thing has been to find a correct balance between the private and public sectors in order to ensure an efficient society.

Practically all European states, including Russia, are members in the Council of Europe. An organisation, which might not be as familiar to you as the European Union. Council of Europe is host for the European Court of Human Rights, which deals with complaints by individual citizens. Council of Europe has also an commissioner for Human Rights, who monitors the state of human rights in its member states.

The Maastricht Treaty of 1992 called for the European Union to promote the creation of a Citizens' Europe. After that demands concerning the development of the EU's own administration to make it more transparent and efficient have increased.

Since Finland became a member in 1995, we have worked in the EU to improve transparency and good administration. Finland has also called for the EU to sign the European Convention on Human Rights, as all its members have done.

In several connections I have been active in seeking solutions to minority issues in Europe. One of the sorest human rights issues is the position of the Roma in the new members that have just joined the Union. The Council of Europe in particular is working to resolve this problem.

Progress has taken place in the European Union's administration. If the draft constitution that is being negotiated is approved, this will mean further positive development. The European Union's administration should be more transparent. The Union could finally join the European Convention on Human Rights and allow itself to be monitored by the European Court of Human Rights. The European Charter of Fundamental Rights that was adopted at the Nice summit in December 2000 will also become legally binding when applying European law.

The European Charter of Fundamental Rights contains a new human right: the right to good administration. This means that citizens have the right to have their affairs handled impartially, fairly and within a reasonable time, following correct procedures. This provision, which Finns supported strongly in the preparation stage, allows the European Union to enact legislation pertaining to good administration. The member states already have similar laws concerning their own administration.

Perhaps many of you are deliberating what transparency and good administration mean and why they are so important. Jacob Söderman, who is with my delegation here and who served as the first European Ombudsman in 1995-2003, once said, after making numerous visits to the Union's member states:

"Different countries have different administrative traditions and their administrations may differ from one another, but citizens' position is always the same. They want transparent, honest, responsible and efficient public administration."

What is transparent administration? In my opinion transparent administration operates in such a way that citizens know what it is planning, what it is proposing and deciding and why. Citizens must also have the right to view public administration documents unless statutory exceptions are made concerning business secrets, public security or privacy, for example. In this way citizens can monitor administration properly. Partly as a result of such monitoring, a survey conducted by Transparency International ranked Finland among the least corrupt countries in the world.

Public administration cannot do its job well unless it has citizens' trust and support. In Europe our experience is that this can only be achieved if administration constantly seeks to improve transparency and procedures as far as possible.

When Finland still belonged to Sweden, the Finnish clergyman Anders Chydenius participated in the Diet or legislative assembly in Stockholm, and through hard work he was influential in getting the Diet to approve a constitutional Act guaranteeing freedom of the press in 1766. This Act abolished censorship and also made documents of the Diet and officials public as a rule, thus giving citizens access to them. This is still the basis of transparency in Nordic society.

Chydenius was a versatile and active statesman who supported free trade and the market economy. He also wanted to promote respect for people's natural rights. Above all he believed in freedom of speech, since this is the best way for citizens to know about their rights and obligations.

In 1762 he wrote:

"The freedom of a contented country does not consist by any means of the fact that one or other of the citizens is entitled to certain special privileges while others labour under some sort of thraldom, but when the humblest subject within society, under a wise government, may seek both his own and the society's well-being with his own hands that are just as free as those of the foremost persons in the country, together with society, only then can it be called freedom. And since such a general freedom of all citizens is the main characteristic of our revered constitution, then everything that is in conflict with it must be considered as an infringement of the constitution itself."

This has been for Finns a dream and vision for centuries.

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The 1996 peace agreement created a basis for improving the human rights situation, developing good administration and weeding out corruption in Guatemala. This involves a long process. Achieving results requires that the nation's political leaders, the government, the Congress and all officials commit themselves to carrying out reforms. Results cannot be achieved simply by giving orders or enacting laws. Equally important are citizens' own activities and vigilant monitoring of administration.

Finnish experience shows that ensuring education for all girls and boys and a fair distribution of income promote wellbeing, social cohesion and economic growth. Social services can only be developed if companies and citizens contribute taxes to a sufficient extent. To ensure the acceptability of taxation it is important for taxpayers to know how public funds are spent and to know that they can influence what needs they cover by voting in elections. It is also important that those responsible for public funds deem it to be to their honour to be honest.

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The positive development of relations between distant countries is a good example of the positive aspects of globalization. Through the Internet the world is open to us in practically every part of the globe. We can more easily meet and share with one another information and experience, concerning such things as good administration. No country has a monopoly position in this regard, but all of us have room to learn and develop.

Together with President Benjamin Mkapa of Tanzania I had the great honour of co-chairing the World Commission on the Social Dimension of Globalization, which published its report in February. The report notes that globalization has promoted open societies and open economies and encouraged a freer exchange of goods, ideas and knowledge. As a result, a truly global conscience is beginning to emerge, sensitive to the inequities of poverty, gender discrimination, child labour and environmental degradation.

The report also notes that the deep-seated and persistent imbalances in the current workings of the global economy are ethically unacceptable and politically unsustainable. For the vast majority of men and women, globalization has not met their legitimate aspirations for decent jobs and a better future for their children. The advantages of globalization are too distant for too many, while its risks are all too real.

Making globalization fair and inclusive must begin with the nation-state. The basic requirements for the nation-state are democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law.

We also need a better and fairer international system - a system in which the developing countries' voice is better heard and greater attention is paid to differences in countries' level of development.

Thank you for your interest and allow me to wish you the determination and perseverance to create a better tomorrow for all the people of Guatemala!