
Leo Svahnbäck
@leosvahnback
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Husband. Dad of kaksi pellavapäätä. When off duty, a civil servant at the Finnish Foreign Ministry. Previously posted in 🇨🇳, then 🇧🇪 🇪🇺, now in 🇰🇪.
Joined February 2012
Finland 🇫🇮 and Kenya 🇰🇪 are actively working together to support multilateralism and develop global governance. Peace and security - be it East Africa or Ukraine - is at the core of our engagements as well. The follow up on May State Visit to #Kenya by @alexstubb continues.
Good to meet President @WilliamsRuto during the UNGA80 High-Level Week. We met last time in May during my state visit to Kenya. Kenya is a strong supporter of multilateralism, and a promotor of peace and security in the African continent and beyond. We also share thoughts on
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We value our close diplomatic ties with Finland and are committed to strengthening cooperation in areas of mutual interest. Our focus is on expanding trade and investment while deepening multilateral engagement, especially in advancing global and regional peace and security. We
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An interesting visit to the field, to see how the Finnish-German-Kenyan joint project on dual #TVET is moving forward. In Kenya, the population is young and the demand for dual training, covering both theoretical and practical skills is high - happy to be a part of this work 🇰🇪
Informative and motivating first day of monitoring dual #TVET implementation @ Mt Kenya region ⛰️! Impressive progress and vision at Chuka TVC, and strong appreciation for the practical skills’ approach by companies and trainees. Glad to see #dualtraining taking root!
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It was a pleasure to attend the @InformAction_KE Hatua Podcast, discussing Kenya’s progressive constitution #KatibaAt15 and the active civic engagement to make it a reality. @FinlandinKenya remains a partner for Kenya and the Kenyans in this space 🙏🏻 #youth #women #goodgovernance
In our next episode of the Hatua Podcast, we sit down with @FinlandinKenya's Deputy Ambassador to Kenya, @leosvahnback, to explore their partnership in advancing democracy as we mark #KatibaAt15. 👉 Stay tuned & check out for more! https://t.co/C64qGkjL18
#HakiNiYetu #KatibaAt15
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China senses an opportunity in Trump’s cultural revolution argues @martinwolf_ “Trump’s America First” is bound to mean America alone.
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Ambassador @PirkkaTapiola was pleased to host the Kenya Finns board members over lunch 🇰🇪🇫🇮 Good talks on how the Finns in Kenya are doing and how we can collaborate even more in the future. Interested in joining the 🇫🇮 community? Write to kenyafinns.suomi@gmail.com 📩
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Exciting weekend ahead as #SafariRally is on! Embassy colleagues attended the start this morning – what an atmosphere! A heartfelt thanks for having us @TGR_WRC. All the best to the Flying Finns🇫🇮 and the whole Toyota team! #SafariRallyKenya #SafariRally2025
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An absolute pleasure to meet my Kenyan MFA colleague this morning. 🇰🇪 🇫🇮 relations are moving forward and to the next level on many fronts, from trade to climate to peace and security. Lots of untapped potential out there, which we’ll work hard to unlock.
linkedin.com
Phew, it’s been busy times here in Kenya!🇰🇪 Today I had the privilege to meet David Kamau, the Deputy Director General for Europe at the Kenyan Foreign Ministry. We exchanged on 🇫🇮 🇰🇪 relatio...
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Great to be celebrating the World Food Day at this @aphrc @Zero_Hunger_Ke event. Finland partners gladly with our friends in Kenya for the “Right to Food” - there’s a lot of potential for cooperation and sharing practices, for one through our policy on #schoolmeals 🇫🇮🇰🇪🇪🇺
🌱 Today on #WorldFoodDay, our Deputy Head of Mission @leosvahnback spoke at the @aphrc @zero_hunger_ke Annual Food Festival, highlighting our experience with free school meals 🍽️ as shapers of our development story by promoting equal opportunities and education for all. 🌍
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Soo.. Here we’re heading to meet the civil society representatives, whose work on governance, civic participation and access to information, among others, we fund through @TIKenya and our funds for local cooperation. A low profile entrance, Kenyan style 😅 Asantini sana 🙏🏻
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What a privilege to join this monitoring trip to Western Kenya with @TIKenya, seeing the progress made on the #usawamashinani (Equity for Grassroots) project, funded by the @FinnishEmbNBO. A strong focus on better governance, anti-corruption and youth and women empowerment 🇫🇮⚡️🇰🇪
We are honoured to welcome #TeamFinlandKenya, led by Leo Svahnbäck, Deputy Head of Mission at @FinnishEmbNBO, on a courtesy visit to our Western Kenya regional office this morning. #TeamTIKenya and #TeamFinlandKenya are conducting a joint field visit to assess the progress of
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Kenya and Finland enjoy strong bilateral ties, strengthened through collaborations on areas of shared interests. We are keen on enhancing our partnership to empower our citizens as well as advance global goals such as peace, security, and climate action. Held talks with the
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Nice seeing my friend President @WilliamsRuto. We agree on many things, including the need for UN reform. The choice is simple: multilateral cooperation or multipolar disorder. Oli mukava tavata ystäväni, Kenian presidentti @WilliamsRuto. Olemme samaa mieltä monesta asiasta,
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I am grateful to @alexstubb and @FinGovernment for Finland’s decision to provide Ukraine with another defense package, valued at 118 million euros. This brings the total value of Finland’s military aid to Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion to 2.3 billion euros. We
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We extend our deepest condolences to those who lost loved ones in the devastating dormitory fire at Hillside Endarasha Academy in Nyeri County. Our thoughts are with the families and Kenyan people during this challenging time. Poleni sana.
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Konfliktialueilla 127 miljoonaa lasta on koulun ulkopuolella. Koulut tarjoavat turvaa ja toivoa, mutta ovat usein hyökkäysten kohteina. Suomi tekee työtä, jotta jokaisella lapsella on mahdollisuus koulutukseen, jopa vaikeimmissa olosuhteissa. #ProtectingEducationFromAttack
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African countries are of course seeking also Chinese funding and cooperation. Nevertheless, this doesn’t come without strings attached and has similar risks as for the others partners, with many African countries facing a difficult economic situation. It’s also about geopolitics.
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The first month behind in Nairobi. Interesting discussions and lots of potential for future cooperation both with Kenya - political and economic - and the international partners. Read more of my first impressions on LinkedIn 👇
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The first month in Nairobi 🇰🇪 is behind us. What a whirlwind of meetings and interesting discussions has it been. The country - according to many international observer - is in a challenging...
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In her speech, Foreign Minister @elinavaltonen underlines the commitment of the Finnish government to look at #Africa through opportunities. Trade and investments is a shared interest on both sides. Finland will also support #UNSC reform to better reflect global developments.
Suurlähettiläskokous alkaa tänään maanantaina 26.8. klo 9.00. Voit seurata kokousta ja valtionjohdon puheita ulkoministeriön verkkosivulla ja sosiaalisen median kanavilla. #SLSK2024 ⬇️ https://t.co/eTi9alMEgX
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Thank you @Muoria_Dr for yet another positive and productive meeting! Great to introduce Finland’s new Deputy Ambassador @leosvahnback to our strong partnership in TVET. TVET is indeed the master key! @FinnishEmbNBO
@bodo_immink
@murengag
A delegation from GIZ and Finnish Embassy paid a courtesy call to my office this morning. It was my pleasure to get acquainted with Christoph Zipfel, the new Program Director of the Sustainable Economic Development Cluster at GIZ, and Leo Svahnbäck, the Deputy Ambassador of
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