Tarja Halonen
President of the Republic of Finland
Tarja Halonen is the 11th President
of Finland and the country’s first
female Head of State. She acceded
to office on 1 March 2000, and was
re-elected in 2006.
Ms Halonen was born in Helsinki
on 24 December 1943. She graduated
from the University of Helsinki
in 1968 with a Master of Laws degree.
From 1970 and throughout
her political career (which began in
1974) she worked as a lawyer for
the Central Organization of Finnish
Trade Unions.
Tarja Halonen joined the Social
Democratic party in 1971, and in
1974 was appointed Parliamentary
Secretary to the Prime Minister.
She was elected to Parliament
in 1979, and subsequently reelected
four times. In Parliament
she served as Chair of the Social
Affairs Committee (1984–1987),
Deputy-Chair of the Legal Affairs
Committee (1991–1995) and Chair
of the Grand Committee (1995).
In parallel, Ms Halonen served five
terms on the Helsinki City Council
(1977–1996).
Tarja Halonen served as Minister
of Social Affairs and Health (1987–1990), Minister of Justice (1990–1991), Minister of Foreign Affairs
(1995–2000) and Minister responsible
for Nordic cooperation (1989–
1991). During her time as Foreign
Minister, Finland held for the first
time the Presidency of the European
Union from July to December 1999.
Tarja Halonen has also played an
active role at the Council of Europe,
first as Deputy-Chair of the Finnish
Delegation to the Parliamentary
Assembly (1991–1995) and later
in the Ministerial Committee. She
was also a member of the Council
of Europe’s Committee of Wise
Persons (1998–1999).
She has served as co-Chair
of the World Commission on the
Social Dimension of Globalization
(2002–2004) following her appointment
by the International Labour
Organization (ILO). She has chaired
the Council of Women World
Leaders since March 2009. And in
August 2010, she was appointed
co-Chair of the UN Secretary-
General’s High-Level Panel on
Global Sustainability.
Tarja Halonen has built her political
career on promoting human
rights, social justice and equality.
Tarja Halonen has built her political
career on promoting human
rights, social justice and equality.
Under her presidency, Finland became
the first country in the world
to make broadband access a legal
right.
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