Crisis Management Initiative (CMI) is an independent, non-governmental organisation that works to resolve conflict and to build sustainable peace. CMI has offices in Helsinki

Helsinki

Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...

 and Brussels

Brussels

Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...

 and activities in Liberia, Ethiopia, the Black Sea region, Middle East and Aceh. It was founded by Martti Ahtisaari

Martti Ahtisaari

Martti Oiva Kalevi Ahtisaari is a Finnish politician, the tenth President of Finland , Nobel Peace Prize laureate and United Nations diplomat and mediator, noted for his international peace work....

, the former President of Finland

President of Finland

The President of the Republic of Finland is the nation's head of state. Under the Finnish constitution, executive power is vested in the President and the government, with the President possessing extensive powers. The President is elected directly by the people of Finland for a term of six years....

, in 2000. In 2005, it achieved reputation for the peace agreement between The Government of Indonesia

Indonesia

Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...

 and the Free Aceh Movement

Free Aceh Movement

The Free Aceh Movement , also known as the Aceh Sumatra National Liberation Front , was a separatist group seeking independence for the Aceh region of Sumatra from Indonesia. GAM fought against Indonesian government forces in the Aceh Insurgency from 1976 to 2005, costing over 15,000 lives...

. Martti Ahtisaari won the Nobel Peace Prize

Nobel Peace Prize

The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes bequeathed by the Swedish industrialist and inventor Alfred Nobel.-Background:According to Nobel's will, the Peace Prize shall be awarded to the person who...

 in 2008.

Activities

CMI is networking for peace, supporting local decision makers in building stability and encouraging conflict parties to a dialogue. The CMI way of doing things is pulling together international peacebuilding experts and local experience. Over the past decade CMI has gained valuable knowledge of different peacebuilding and conflict solving methods. CMI tailors the models accordingly and turns thinking into action.

• CMI contributes to conflict resolution through mediation, mediation support, dialogue and confidence building processes
• CMI seeks to consolidate and sustain peace processes through supporting state capacity and participatory planning and prioritization

CMI currently operates in:

1. Aceh
   Aceh
   Aceh is a special region of Indonesia, located on the northern tip of the island of Sumatra. Its full name is Daerah Istimewa Aceh , Nanggroë Aceh Darussalam and Aceh . Past spellings of its name include Acheh, Atjeh and Achin...
   
   
2. Africa
3. Black Sea
   Black Sea
   The Black Sea is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and the Aegean seas and various straits. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean...
   
    and Central Asia
   Central Asia
   Central Asia is a core region of the Asian continent from the Caspian Sea in the west, China in the east, Afghanistan in the south, and Russia in the north...
   
   
4. European Union
5. Middle East

CMI Highlights

• Supported President Ahtisaari in facilitating negotiations between the Government of Indonesia and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM). The negotiations lead to the signing of a peace agreement (2005).).
• Co-arranged a meeting of various political Iraqi leaders in Finland that led to the signing of the Helsinki II Agreement, outlining 17 principles defining the framework for reconciliation in Iraq (2007 and 2008)
• Supported international decision-making through an in-depth conflict analysis of the Burma/Myanmar situation (2008).
• Supported the re-establishment and functioning of a network of women’s organizations in Aceh in order to enhance women's participation in post-conflict peace building processes (2008-).
• Launched, together with the Government of Liberia, the design process of a mobile technology based system for the creation of a civil register in Liberia, which will make the first tool within the Governance out of a Box “toolkit” for state building. This “toolkit” is aimed at being transferrable to other areas of post-conflict reconstruction (2008-).
• Transferred skills of conflict resolution and engagement in dialogue to civil society organizations in several countries in the Black Sea region, and creating the first civil society expert councils advising the respective governments of Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Moldova (2008-).
• Worked with the African Union and other African and international organizations to build regional capacities for mediation (2009-).
• Supported the European Union in developing its mediation policy and capacity to engage in international peace mediation and cooperation (2007).

The Nobel Peace Prize for 2008

The Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded President Ahtisaari the Nobel Peace Prize for 2008 “for his important efforts, on several continents and over more than three decades, to resolve international conflicts”. The Nobel Committee also highlighted the role of CMI as having provided the necessary support for President Ahtisaari’s many important international assignments for instance in Iraq, the Horn of Africa, Northern Ireland, Central Asia and Aceh, Indonesia.

Governance

CMI is a non-governmental organization independent of governments, multilateral institutions or their networks. CMI is governed by a Board of Directors and an International Advisory Board combining expertise in the public and private sectors, multilateral institutions, as well as field practice in international regions in crisis. CMI's Executive Director is Tuija Talvitie (as of 1.11.2009).

Board of Directors

• President Martti Ahtisaari, Chairman of the Board
• Juha Rantanen, Managing Director of Outokumpu
• Kirsti Lintonen, Permanent Representative to the United Nations (retired)
• Pekka Korpinen, Executive Director, World Bank (ret.)
• Martti Koskenniemi, Professor, Cambridge University (International Law)
• Gunvor Kronman, CEO, Swedish-Finnish Cultural Centre (Board Member and former executive of several international development aid and humanitarian organizations)
• Aleksi Neuvonen, Research Director, Demos
• Pauliina Parhiala, Director of International Co-operation, FinnChurchAid
• Kristina Pentti-von Walzel, Campaign Director, Hanken School of Economics, Helsinki
• Johnny Åkerholm, President and CEO, Nordic Investment Bank (former Secretary General of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, 2003–2005)

International Advisory Board

• President Martti Ahtisaari, Chairman of the Board
• Alyson Bailes, Visiting Professor, University of Iceland
• Vasu Gounden, Executive Director, ACCORD
• Priscilla Hayner, Director, International Center for Transitional Justice
• Stephen Heintz, President, Rockefeller Brothers Fund
• Juan Rada, Senior Vice President, Oracle Corporation
• Annika Söder, Assistant Director-General, FAO
• Ramesh Thakur, Distinguished Fellow, Centre for International Governance Innovation
• Pertti Torstila, Secretary of State, Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs