Response of Finnish Development Policy and Cooperation to the COVID-19 Pandemic

The main objective of the assessment was to identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of the management of Finnish development policy and cooperation and humanitarian assistance in view of the COVID-19 response, and to document them.

The purpose of the assessment was to further enhance MFA’s ability to respond and adapt development policy and cooperation and related actions in crisis by learning from the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. By understanding the different approaches in which the MFA responded to the COVID-19, relevant insights and lessons were generated to inform future responses in other crises.

The assessment covered both the acute and early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic and the longer-term response to build forward. Thus, it focused on the period from March 2020 up till the end of 2021.