The President of Maldives visits Martti Ahtisaari and CMI (17.3.2010)

The concern about peace processes and climate change was on the agenda when President Mohamed Nasheed and President Martti Ahtisaari met on Wednesday. President Nasheed visited the Crisis Management Initiative’s (CMI) and Martti Ahtisaari’s office in Helsinki as part of his official program.

President and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Martti Ahtisaari introduced to Mohamed Nasheed CMI’s work on the areas of peace building and conflict resolution.

According to Martti Ahtisaari CMI’s peace building project in Aceh in Indonesia was an example of a successful mission after a natural disaster. “CMI is still closely following Aceh’s developments. CMI has supported local organizations to take a stronger role in the peace process, especially the political participation of women has been promoted”, stated Mr. Ahtisaari.

Mohamed Nasheed said that during his visit to Finland he has been impressed by the amount of women participating in high-level politics and business. “Promoting equality and democracy are my main concerns. I want to emphasize that Maldives is and wants to become an even more progressive Islamic country”, said Mohamed Nasheed. He is the first president in the Maldives chosen through democratic elections.

”The effects of climate change on developing countries should be a priority. Peace building and climate change give together a solid foundation to sustainable development. Peace, like many other meaningful issue today, is a question of will”, said president Ahtisaari.

The Crisis Management Initiative (CMI) is an independent, non-profit non-governmental think-and-do tank. CMI is a recognized and respected international player in the fields of conflict resolution and peace building. CMI works in partnership with local organization in Africa, the Middle East, the Black Sea region and South East Asia. 2010 is CMI’s 10 year Anniversary. President Ahtisaari founded CMI in 2000 and is its Chairman of the Board.

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Photos by Tuomo Manninen