Martti Ahtisaari

Chairman of the International Advisory Board

Martti Ahtisaari, former President of Finland and founder of Crisis Management Initiative, acts as the Chairman of the International Advisory Board. Mr. Ahtisaari was elected President of the Republic of Finland in February 1994. He held office from 1994 to 2000. His post-presidential activities have included the present appointment as the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General of the United Nations for the future status process for Kosovo, facilitating the peace process between the Government of Indonesia and the Free Aceh Movement, chairing an independent panel on the security and safety of UN personnel in Iraq, appointments as UN Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa and Personal Envoy of the OSCE CiO for Central Asia, and inspection of the IRA's arms dumps. Mr. Ahtisaari has a long career in the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, which he joined in 1965. He also served in several positions in the UN, firstly as Special Representative of the Secretary General for Namibia from 1978. In 1987 he became the Under-Secretary General for Administration and Management. He also led the UN operation (UNTAG) in Namibia (1989-1990). Mr Ahtisaari graduated from the University of Oulu, Finland in 1959.