Marjatta Rasi (29 November 1945 – 23 May 2021) was a Finnish diplomat. She represented Finland as Permanent Representative to the United Nations (UN), and as Ambassador to many countries posted at

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House ...

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), formerly known as Dacca, is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest Bengali-speaking city. It is the eighth largest and sixth most densely populated city ...

Colombo Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo me ...

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Thimphu Thimphu (; dz, ཐིམ་ཕུག ) is the capital city, capital and largest city of Bhutan. It is situated in the western central part of Bhutan, and the surrounding valley is one of Bhutan's ''dzongkhags'', the Thimphu District. The ancient ...

, and

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. She worked as Head of Finland's Development Agency. In 2004, she was President of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). After serving in

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in the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

from 1998 to 2004, she was also the Under Secretary of State for Development Policy in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Finland).

Early life and education

Rasi was born in Punkalaidun, Finland on November 29, 1945. She was a Saha and cousin to Finnish-American science fiction editor Arthur Saha. She graduated from the

Helsinki University The University of Helsinki ( fi, Helsingin yliopisto, sv, Helsingfors universitet, abbreviated UH) is a public university, public Research university, research university located in Helsinki, Finland since 1829, but founded in the city of Turk ...

in 1969 with a degree in law (LLB).

Career

Rasi joined Finland's foreign service in the Ministry for Foreign Affairs in 1970 and was posted as Attaché at

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. In 1972, she was Second Secretary in the Finland Embassy in London. She then moved back to Finland and worked from 1977 as Secretary of Section in the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. Her next posting was in

in 1979 as

Counselor Counselor or counsellor may refer to: A professional In diplomacy and government * Counsellor of State, senior member of the British royal family to whom the Monarch can delegate some functions in case of unavailability * Counselor (dipl ...

to the Permanent Mission of Finland to the

. She was back in Finland from 1983 until 1987 as Counselor in the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, where, from 1986 she became Director of the Political Department (UN sector). She was then posted again in

as Deputy Permanent Representative (Ambassador) of Finland to the United Nations Chairman of the Security Council Sanction Committee. In 1991, she became Ambassador of Finland to

Kathmandu , pushpin_map = Nepal Bagmati Province#Nepal#Asia , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = Bagmati Prov ...

and

. She was back in the Finland Ministry for Foreign Affairs as Director General, Department for International Development Cooperation, in 1995. She became a Permanent Representative of Finland to the United Nations in New York from 1 June 1998 until 2004. On 20 October 1998 she presented the "Nordic view" on expansion of the membership of the Security Council. On 3 October 2001 in her address to the UN she stated the action plan of the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

to eradicate international terrorism. From 2000 she was also a Member of the Board of the

International Peace Academy The International Peace Institute (IPI, formerly the International Peace Academy) is an independent non-profit lobby group based in New York (beside the headquarters of the United Nations, with which IPI works closely). The institute has regional ...

. From 2002 to 2003 she worked as Vice President of the Economical and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the United Nations and was involved in planning post war aid. In a report to the Security Council presented on 28 May 2004 she stated: "Humanitarian assistance, rehabilitation, recovery and reconstruction can and will overlap. These actions must often be accompanied by continuous crisis mitigation and prevention to avoid setbacks. Peacekeeping and security must be part of a coherent approach." In 2004, she presented to the Economic Council a "draft resolution on the Status of non-governmental organizations and other groups accredited to the World Summit on Sustainable Development". In 2004 she also presented a report on "smooth transition strategies for countries graduating from the list of least developed countries". When she was Under-Secretary of State for Development Policy at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, she was invited to be a member of the advisory group for the UN Peace building Fund, and in 2006, she was Chair of this fund which had been established in 2005. Finland contributed 1.6 million Euros to this fund which covered assistance to Sierra Leone and Burundi. In October 2009, she took charge as Ambassador to Austria in Vienna, replacing

Kirsti Kauppi Kirsti Helena Kauppi (born 1957) has been the Finnish ambassador to the United States since January 2015. Prior to that she was in the post of Head of the Political Department of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs from 1 April 2012 until the end o ...

; she was the eleventh Ambassador from Finland to Austria. During this period she also served as Finland's Permanent Representative to the United Nations and other international organizations located in Vienna such as the

International Atomic Energy Agency The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is an intergovernmental organization that seeks to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy and to inhibit its use for any military purpose, including nuclear weapons. It was established in 1957 ...

(IAEA), the International Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) and the

United Nations Industrial Development Organization The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) (French: Organisation des Nations unies pour le développement industriel; French/Spanish acronym: ONUDI) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that assists countries in e ...

(UNIDO). She retired from foreign service in 2013 after a long career.

Political career

Following her retirement, the conservative National Coalition Party nominated Rasi for the

2014 European elections Fourteen or 14 may refer to: * 14 (number), the natural number following 13 and preceding 15 * one of the years 14 BC, AD 14, 1914, 2014 Music * 14th (band), a British electronic music duo * ''14'' (David Garrett album), 2013 *''14'', an unrel ...

along with Kai Pöntinen. She secured 17 of 240 votes.

Other activities

African Development Bank The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) or (BAD) is a multilateral development finance institution headquartered in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, since September 2014. The AfDB is a financial provider to African governments and private companies i ...

(AfDB), Ex-Officio Member of the Board of Governors (2005-2009)2006 Annual Report

(AfDB).

References

Bibliography

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rasi, Marjatta Living people 1945 births Permanent Representatives of Finland to the United Nations Ambassadors of Finland to India Ambassadors of Finland to Sri Lanka Ambassadors of Finland to Bangladesh Ambassadors of Finland to Nepal Ambassadors of Finland to Bhutan Ambassadors of Finland to Austria Finnish women ambassadors