Martti Ahtisaari Curriculum Vitae

Mr. Ahtisaari was elected President of the Republic of Finland in February 1994. He held office from the 1st of March 1994 to the 29th of February 2000. Soon after leaving office, Mr. Ahtisaari founded the Crisis Management Initiative (CMI). On 1 May 2021, CMI transferred all its operations to the new legal structure CMI – Martti Ahtisaari Peace Foundation, which continues the work of CMI association. In 2005, Ahtisaari and CMI facilitated the peace process between the Government of Indonesia and the Free Aceh Movement. Between 14 November 2005 and 29 February 2008, Ahtisaari was Special Envoy to the Secretary-General of the United Nations for the future status process for Kosovo. Martti Ahtisaari was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2008.

Professional history

Martti Ahtisaari was for much of his career a civil servant
in the Finnish Foreign Ministry and the United Nations.

Various posts in the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, 1965-1973

Ambassador of Finland to the United Republic of Tanzania, 1973-1976,
accredited to Zambia, Somalia and Mozambique, 1975- 1976

Member of the Senate of the UN Institute for Namibia, 1975-1976
United Nations Commissioner for Namibia, 1977-1981
Special Representative of the Secretary General for Namibia, 1978-1988

Undersecretary of State in charge of International Development
Co-operation in the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, 1984-1986

Undersecretary-General the UN for Administration and Management 1987-1991,
leading the UN operation (UNTAG) in Namibia, 1989-1990

State Secretary in the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, 1991-1993

Chairman of the Bosnia-Herzegovina Working Group
of the International Conference on the former Yugoslavia, 1992-1993,
and Special Adviser to the International Conference on the former Yugoslavia
and to the Secretary General’s Special Representative for former Yugoslavia in 1993

President of the Republic of Finland, 1994-2000

In 1999, during his remaining time as President of Finland Mr. Ahtisaari,
former Prime-Minister of Russia Victor Chernomyrdin, and US Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott facilitated together the withdrawal of the Yugoslav/Serbian military and security forces from Kosovo and the establishment there of an international security and civil presence.

Post presidential tasks

Upon completion of his one term in office as President of Finland, Martti Ahtisaari founded the Crisis Management Initiative, an NGO dedicated to conflict resolution, crisis management and peace mediation, in year 2000.

Co-drafting of a report on the human rights and political situation in Austria in 2000

Inspector of the IRA’s arms dumps with fellow inspector Cyril Ramaphosa, 2000

Chair of the independent panel on the security and safety of UN personnel in Iraq, 2003

Personal Envoy of the OSCE CiO for Central Asia, 2003-2004

UN Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa, 2003-2005

Facilitator in the peace process between the Government of Indonesia and
the Free Aceh Movement in 2005. The process led to the signing of a Memorandum
of Understanding, thereby ending three decades of conflict in Aceh.

Special Envoy to the Secretary-General of the United Nations
for the future status process for Kosovo, 2005-2008

Chairman of the Board, International Crisis Group

Co-Chair of the Board, the East-West Institute

Co-Chair of the European Council on Foreign Relations

Member of the Prize Committee of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation

Founder of the Independent Commission on Turkey

Emeritus Member of The Elders

Education

Mr. Ahtisaari graduated from the University of Oulu in 1959 and received an Honorary Doctorate (Pedagogy) from the University in 1989. He holds several Honorary Doctorates from a variety of fields and countries.

Awards

President Ahtisaari has received numerous awards and decorations:

Hononary Citizen of Namibia, 1992

Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Award, 2000

The Hessen Peace Prize, 2000

The J. William Fulbright Award for International Understanding, 2000

Honorary Officer in the Order of Australia, 2002

Order of the Companions of Oliver Tambo (Supreme Companion) of South Africa, 2004

Tribute of Appreciation by the Department of the State of the USA, 2005

The Gold Medal from the American-Scandinavian Foundation, 2006

Manfred Wörner Medal of the German Ministry of Defense, 2007

UNESCO Félix Houphöuet-Boigny Peace Prize, 2008

Nobel Peace Prize, 2008