Event

Tarja Halonen

Mrs. Tarja Halonen has an impressive and lengthy background in public service, having held a number of elected and appointed positions. Prior to her election as the first female President in Finnish history through which she served two terms (2000-2012), she served as Minister for Foreign Affairs (1995-2000); Minister of Justice (1990-91); Minister for Nordic Cooperation (1989-91); and Minister at the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health (1987-90). She also held a number of top committee positions while serving a member of the Finnish Parliament from 1979 to 2000. Prior to her time in national office, Halonen served as a trade union attorney (1970-74; 1975-79) and as a member of the Helsinki City Council (1977-96).

Halonen has held various national and international honorary positions including as Co-Chair of the UN High-level Panel on Global Sustainability (2010-12), Co-Chair of the International Labour Organization (ILO) World Commission on the Social Dimension of Globalization (2002-04) and Co-Chair of the UN Millennium Summit in 2000. Among many other positions, she is currently the Co-Chair of the High Level Task Force for International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) (2012-) and a member of the Leadership Council of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (2014-). A graduate of Helsinki University, Halonen also holds 17 honorary university degrees.