I might have babbled about the Finnish local election in some of my previous posts and lucky for everyone involved, it’s now over. So, what new conversation culture am I talking about? Some would argue that I should have had…
Continue reading Finland: Same Old Municipal Election, New Conversation Culture
Having trouble to secure life essentials or a roof over one’s head hasn’t disappeared just because of the pandemic. In fact, these things have become even harder. Massive lay-offs and outright terminations have plunged many people into poverty even if…
For many countries, a local election means a municipal and/or subnational region election. These elections tend to get less coverage, at least internationally, but their role is still imperative when it comes to a functioning democracy. And they are even…
It feels both wonderful and weird to be back home in Finland. Wonderful because I finally get to see my family and friends again. Weird because – in a strange way – it feels like I’ve been living in London…
Meet Laura Fagerlund. Laura is a Vice President of IFLRY and a Council member of the Swedish Youth of Finland. In a few days, she will move to South Africa for an internship with the Democratic Alliance. Laura will be…
Continue reading Laura’s Blog: #1 Getting Ready to Move to Cape Town
Besides the European Union, there is another European organization with a very similar name: the Council of Europe. This organization has more members than the EU – including for example Russia and Turkey, but its purpose is more narrowly defined.…
Not many people outside of Scandinavia know that there is a Swedish-speaking minority in Finland. About 300,000 people in Finland speak Swedish as their mother tongue, and they comprise about 5.5 percent of the population. Even if the minority is…
Continue reading Are Too Many Swedish-Speaking Finns Moving to Sweden?
I am extremely happy and proud to have good news to share once again. Recently, the law that was being used to discriminate against rape victims in Sudan was amended and signed into law by the President. The amazing thing is how this…
Continue reading Because Every Single Person Counts – Alena Santalainen
As programme manager of IFLRY’s Gender Equality programme, there are a lot of topics that I want to write about: there was an amazing event that we had in Tunisia, our plans for this year, and many other very interesting…
Continue reading Can these guys rock our world? – Alena Santalainen
