20. July 2016 Finland

Chairperson Emeritus of the Board, Crisis Management Initiative

After a distinguished career in the United Nations and the Finnish Foreign Ministry, Martti Ahtisaari was elected President of the Republic of Finland in 1994. He held office until early 2000.

In 2000, Martti Ahtisaari founded Crisis Management Initiative (CMI), a non-governmental organisation, to continue his legacy in conflict resolution. For his life’s work Ahtisaari was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2008.

Upon leaving office in 2000, Ahtisaari has served in a variety of key international roles, including facilitating the peace process between the Government of Indonesia and the Free Aceh Movement, chairing an independent panel on the security and safety of UN personnel in Iraq, and appointments as UN Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa and as Personal Envoy of the OSCE CiO for Central Asia. Between 2005 and 2008, Ahtisaari was Special Envoy of the Secretary-General of the United Nations for the future status process for Kosovo.

President Ahtisaari is active in numerous non-governmental capacities. He is Chairman of the Independent Commission on Turkey. He is also a member of the Elders, an independent group of global leaders working for peace and human rights, and a member of the Prize Committee of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation.

Martti Ahtisaari is married to Eeva Ahtisaari. They have a son.