Presenting President Martti Ahtisaari

We are proud to present Mr. Martti Ahtisaari, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate 2008 and former President of the Republic of Finland as one of the keynote speakers of the EL 2011 Congress.

Martti Ahtisaari was elected President of the Republic of Finland in February 1994. He held office from the 1st of March 1994 to the 29th of February 2000. Upon leaving office, President Ahtisaari has taken several international tasks to continue his career in international peace-mediation and conflict resolution.

Mr. Ahtisaari founded a Non-Governmental Organisation, the Crisis Management Initiative (CMI), in 2000 to continue his legacy in helping the international community to do better when it comes to preventive diplomacy, peacemaking and post-conflict statebuilding. Today President Ahtisaari acts as the Chairman of the Board of CMI.

In his keynote speech titled Social Peace and the Role of Lotteries Mr. Ahtisaari will be addressing the importance of economic and social development in the promotion of peace. In particular, he will speak about the role lotteries play in supporting good causes and how this work promotes the building of peaceful societies. Mr. Ahtisaari is known for having been one of the first world opinion leaders to encourage more international cooperation among state lotteries for the promotion of peace. His keynote speech shall also be a call to the lottery industry’s leadership to continue to find ways and means to promote the good cause of peace worldwide.

To read more about Martti Ahtisaari, see http://www.cmi.fi/office-of-president-ahtisaari.html