Finnish foundations make major donations to the Martti Ahtisaari Peace Fund
The CMI – Martti Ahtisaari Peace Foundation’s Peace Fund has received a significant number of donations from members of the public, companies and associations. The Martti Ahtisaari Peace Fund has received individual donations amounting to over €600,000 in addition to a €10 million donation from the Finnish Innovation Fund Sitra. More than 500 private individuals and nearly 100 companies and associations have made donations to the Peace Fund.
The largest corporate donors to the fund are the charity foundation established by the founders of the software company RELEX Solutions and the Ilkka Paananen Foundation, named after the CEO and co-founder of mobile game development company Supercell. The RELEX Foundation is supporting the work of CMI with €200,000 and the Paananen Foundation with €100,000.
The RELEX Foundation aims to mitigate climate change and biodiversity loss, reduce inequality and poverty, and reduce young people’s risk of marginalisation.
“These problems cannot be solved without peace. Peace is the first prerequisite for the well-being of children and young people. That’s why we feel it is of the utmost importance to support the CMI Peace Fund,” says Marko Nikula, who established the RELEX Foundation and is the chair of the company’s board.
Liban Ismail, philantrophy specialist at the Paananen Foundation, emphasises that the life’s work of Nobel laureate Martti Ahtisaari is a common heritage of the Finnish people that must be cherished. “By supporting the CMI Peace Fund, we want to ensure that Finnish expertise in peace mediation is preserved for future generations.”
Other private donors to the Peace Fund include the forestry company UPM, the retail cooperative S Group and the postal service Posti.
The Peace Fund aims to safeguard the life’s work and legacy of President Ahtisaari, who passed away on 16 October this year. The proceeds of the fund will be used to develop long-term mediation work and strengthen CMI’s capacity to respond to rapidly changing crisis situations in a volatile world. Demand for the CMI’s work has increased significantly in recent years.
President Ahtisaari’s family has called on private individuals, companies and organisations to commemorate his life’s work by making a donation to the Peace Fund. CMI, which became a foundation in 2021, established the Peace Fund in December 2022 with the aim of raising €30 million in capital by the end of 2026. On 14 November this year, the Finnish Innovation Fund Sitra announced its support of €10 million to the Peace Fund.
CMI was founded in 2000 by Martti Ahtisaari. Since then, the organisation has become one of the world’s leading peace mediators. CMI now works in more than 20 countries to address the root causes of conflicts.
For more information about the Martti Ahtisaari Peace Fund: https://cmi.fi/support-us/peace-fund/
Further information:
Antti Ämmälä, Head of Communications, CMI – Martti Ahtisaari Peace Foundation
antti.ammala@cmi.fi, tel. +358 40 358 30 84
Riikka Kämppi, Senior Advisor, Public Relations, CMI – Martti Ahtisaari Peace Foundation
riikka.kamppi@cmi.fi, tel. +358 40 572 9733