Awarded to Martti Oiva Kalevi Ahtisaari
(1937 -
) for
his outstanding achievement as a diplomat and commitment to the cause of freedom in Africa and peace in the world
Profile of Martti Oiva Kalevi Ahtisaari
Martti Oiva Kalevi Ahtisaari was born in 1937 in the Finnish town of Viipuri, although he was of Norwegian descent.
In 1960, he worked in Karachi, India, where he led the Young men's Christian Association physical education training establishment. After returning
to his country in 1963, he studied at the Helsinki Polytechnic and was active in student organisations concerned with supporting developing countries.
In 1965, he joined the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland in its Bureau for Technical Co-operation.
In 1973, President Urho Kekkonen appointed him as Finnish Ambassador accredited to Tanzania, Zambia, Somalia and Mozambique. During his
term (until 1977), he took a particular interest in the last remaining colony on the continent and formed contacts with the South West Africa People’s
Organisation (SWAPO) and other African liberation organisations based in Dar es Salaam. At the end of his term, and with the support of the African
lobby, he was appointed the United Nations (UN) Commissioner for Namibia.
As Commissioner and later as the UN Secretary General's Special Representative for Namibia, he keenly anticipated the independence of Namibia,
maintaining contact between the UN, Organisation of African Unity and SWAPO.
After a negotiated agreement with the South African Government to hand over the country to UN rule in preparation of full independence, Ahtisaari
was chosen in March 1989 to lead 8 000 UN peacekeepers and civilian aides of the UN's Transition Assistance Group.
When delays and other hiccups resulted in SWAPO troops breaking out of their agreed demobilisation areas, Ahtisaari's full negotiating skills came
to the fore to make certain that the situation was stabilised sufficiently to make certain that the country's first free elections could take place a few
months later.
Ahtisaari’s love for humanity and his keen sense of justice marked him as the right person to oversee the decolonisation of AfricaÕs last colony.
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