Prime Minister Petteri Orpo's (NCP) government will launch an extensive anti-racism campaign later this month.
The initiative will call on organisations from different sectors — such as business, sports, culture, civic groups, and other communities — to take concrete steps towards tackling racism and discrimination in Finnish society.
The move was prompted by the wave of racism and far-right scandals that engulfed Orpo's own government during its first few weeks in office last summer.
"We challenge organisations to take concrete action, for example by increasing staff diversity as well as by identifying discrimination and racism. The campaign can be joined from virtually any sector and used to promote equality within an organisation," Katriina Nousiainen, a senior advisor from the Prime Minister's Office, said.
Organisations that choose to join the campaign will sign an agreement, committing them to eradicating racism. Participants can then choose certain measures from a list provided on how they will endeavour to achieve their goals.
The measures include organising anti-racism training, increasing diversity in workplaces by changing recruitment practices, and introducing anonymous 'whistleblowing' channels for reporting perceived or experienced racism.
In June, Non-Discrimination Ombudsman Kristina Stenman observed in her annual report that racism and hate speech are at risk of becoming normalised in Finnish politics.
Finns Party back campaign
The Finns Party — whose ministers Vilhelm Junnila and Wille Rydman as well as party leader Riikka Purra were at the centre of much of last summer's controversies — have faced continued questions over their commitment to the campaign, but Nousiainen confirmed that all four government parties back the initiative.
However, while in opposition, the Finns Party heavily criticised efforts by the previous government to introduce a very similar anti-racism drive.
During that time, Finland's current Justice Minister Leena Meri (Finns) argued in an article in Suomen Uutiset that the previous government's campaign would have a stifling effect on the debate around immigration.
Shortly after the Finns Party came to power last June, a government website entitled 'I Am Antiracist' — a joint initiative by the Ministry of Justice and the Non-Discrimination Ombudsman — was taken down.
The Finns Party is represented on the anti-racism steering committee by Purra's state secretary Riikka Slunga-Poutsalo, who declined a request by Yle to be interviewed about the campaign, citing the urgency of budget preparations.
Campaign runs for entire government term
Nousiainen of the Prime Minister's Office confirmed to Yle that dozens of organisations have signed up for the campaign in advance of its launch, adding that more information about these participating bodies will be provided when the initiative officially begins at the end of this month.
"We hope that as many large players as possible will join us, who in turn can challenge their own sector so that hopefully we can turn this into a big social movement," Nousiainen said.
She added that the campaign will run throughout the current government's term in office, as many of the measures require long-term work.
The reaction among organisations and experts in the field to the campaign has been largely positive, but there have also been warnings that Finland must tackle deep structural problems.
Anu Castaneda, a THL research professor specialising in equality, noted that one specific challenge will centre around who chooses to get involved in the campaign.
"Often the organisations that least need these campaigns are the most eager to get involved. And those who would have the most work to do on equality issues are less willing to commit," Castaneda said.
Accusations of government racism prompted campaign
The roots of the government's campaign lie in the accusations of racism it faced after coming to power in June last year, leading to a summer of turmoil for the fledgling coalition.
The saga began when the Finns Party's nomination for Minister of Economic Affairs, Vilhelm Junnila, resigned after less than two weeks in the role following a series of revelations about his links to far-right groups and jokes referencing Nazism.
Shortly afterwards, party leader Riikka Purra apologised for "stupid" comments she wrote on a blog hosted by her predecessor Jussi Halla-aho in 2008, which included multiple uses of the Finnish equivalent of the n-word as well as other racial slurs, anti-immigrant rhetoric and apparent threats of violence.
In July, newly-appointed Interior Minister Mari Rantanen (Finns) issued a statement denying that she believed in the Great Replacement or any other conspiracy theories when some of her old social media posts resurfaced.
Junnila's replacement as Economic Affairs minister, Wille Rydman, then faced a furore over racist language he allegedly used in private messages to a former girlfriend.
With the constant stream of controversies threatening to topple his government, PM Orpo appointed a working group tasked with providing concrete solutions to how Finland can tackle racism.
This led to the four governing parties agreeing on an anti-racism statement and action plan in August last year, which included the plans for the soon-to-be-launched campaign.
Plan conflicts with government's other policies
The government's plans for the campaign received much criticism during a consultation round earlier this year, with experts noting in particular the lack of measures aimed at combatting Islamophobia.
Moniheli, a network of integration organisations, said it was surprised that there was no reference in the plan to anti-Muslim sentiment.
"Islamophobia has been the form of discrimination that exists especially at the ministerial level in Finland. It is a very worrying sign if it cannot even be highlighted in the action plan," Moniheli's Communications Manager Raakel Kumpunen said.
In addition, some specialists have noted that many of the measures included in the campaign appear to be at odds with some of the government's other policies.
"The action plan aims to promote equality between different groups of the population, but on the other hand, the Government Programme contains many measures that appear to weaken the position of the immigrant population, such as restrictions related to obtaining citizenship or preventing undocumented migrants from accessing health care," Anu Castaneda of THL said.
Finland's Non-Discrimination Ombudsman has also criticised the government for dropping an initiative aimed at promoting equality within daycare centres.
"At the same time as the campaign is due to start, the Ministry of Justice is proposing an amendment to the Equality Act, which would end the obligation for daycare centres to draw up equality plans. This is an obvious contradiction to the goals of the campaign," Airin Bahmani, an expert at the Non-Discrimination Ombudsman, noted.
In response, Katriina Nousiainen of the PM's Office said that the action plan is still being fine-tuned ahead of the launch later this month, and the concerns about the lack of measures related to Islamophobia, for example, have been taken into account.
Two stabbings within the space of a few days at a shopping centre in Oulu, which police believe are both racially motivated, also led to a complete re-evaluation of the campaign, Nousiainen said.
She added that the Prime Minister's Office will assess the progress of the campaign halfway through the government's term in office, and if the measures are not effective enough, the government may introduce new ones.
The government has earmarked six million euros to fund measures aimed at tackling racism during this term.
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