CMI – Martti Ahtisaari Peace Foundation is an independent Finnish organisation that works to prevent and resolve conflicts through dialogue and mediation. Founded in 2000 by Nobel Peace Laureate and former President of Finland Martti Ahtisaari, they have since grown to be a leader in the field of international peacemaking.
Their team consists of more than 100 international experts and over 300 global partners from a variety of fields with whom they have advanced more than 50 peace processes in the Middle East and North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, Eurasia and Asia.
CMI is headquartered in Helsinki, with an office in Brussels and a presence in more than 20 countries. Together they share the commitment of developing innovative solutions to tackle issues at the heart of political conflict that prevent peace processes from moving forward.
Conflict resolution and peace mediation are integral parts of foreign and security policy, and of development policy in general. Without peace and stability, there can be no meaningful development. Also, preventing and solving conflicts at their roots is always the most cost-efficient option, offering substantial rewards for modest financial investment.
Amid the modern complexity of conflicts and fragmentation of peace processes, there is a growing need for unobtrusive, independent actors with broad networks and proven expertise – such as CMI.
CMI’s core added value lies in its long-term cooperation with local, regional and international actors, where it can provide complementary, on-demand support for conflict prevention and resolution.
Being an agile, trusted partner for peace is the foundation of CMI’s work. Their service-based approach is defined by their ability to listen, make independent assessments, and recognise the needs of stakeholders to create conducive environments for peace.
CMI’s working methodologies are deeply contextualised and build on a foundation of the highest expertise in peacemaking. Their ability to deliver is based on two mutually supportive strategies: mediation and dialogue and serving as a trusted partner. In addition to the support and expertise they provide to their stakeholders committed to settling conflicts through peaceful means, they actively engage in shaping the policy and praxis of international and regional peacemaking.
Women in Peacemaking and Digital in Peacemaking are priority areas for CMI, as they respond to the need to create more inclusive forms of conflict settlement as well as to the opportunities and threats digital technologies present to peacemakers. In the coming years, they aim to enable women’s full agency for conflict prevention and resolution and to leverage the full potential of technologies to improve the practice of mediation and mitigate their use to fuel conflict and jeopardise peace processes.
CMI has a programme partnership with the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, and works closely with a number of other governments as well as multiple regional and international organisations.
