Ambassador's evening with art & poetry

We had the great honour to bring together global Ambassadors and local stakeholders around the powerful art and poetry on gender equality and women's rights by Minna Pietarinen at the 'I was born a girl'-exhibition.

Thank you Ambassador Paula Parviainen for proposing the idea to organize this event and for reminding us that the position of women and girls are at the very core of Finnish Foreign Policy. Thank you for recognizing the potential of art and poetry to touch on more levels than traditional means of diplomacy, to discover new avenues for collaboration, enabling this message to reach new audiences, and open new dialogues between Finland and other nations.

The touching speech by H.E. Ambassador of Ukraine, Olga Dibrova, left us in a reflective and humble silence. Thank you for sharing with us the situation of the people of Ukraine, albeit heartbreaking, and for reading words from Minna's poem "We must not forget." It speaks of The Right to Peace and Security and is visually portrayed by a beautiful painting of the First Lady of Ukraine, Olena Zelenska, who has emerged as a powerful advocate for women in times of conflict. In solidarity with the people of Ukraine, we pledge our support, and as promised, one day, we will bring the exhibition to Kiev. 💙 💛

Thank you Jaana Hirsikangas, Executive Director of UN Women Suomi, for your tireless dedication to championing women's rights here in Finland and around the world. We trust that this project will continue to resonate with people of all ages, genders, and nationalities, serving as a catalyst to raise awareness and gather support for the remarkable initiatives of UN Women on a global scale.

Thank you of course to the artist herself, Minna Pietarinen for her courage to share her own painful story to touch the hearts of so many. For using her incredible talents to put these difficult emotions into empowering words and art, in order for others to find consolation.

And to all of you who joined us for this wonderful evening around a subject which evoked so many conversations and inspired both action and new collaborations. We truly hope to find the ways o bring the exhibition to each country represented this evening. Thank you to all the Ambassadors present, representatives of the Embassies and the teams from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland. Thank you also to all the many companies present, especially Kauppakeskus AINOA for the beautiful exhibition space and Grano for all the support with graphic materials, from window prints to books and posters. And of course Lumiere Production for your great services.