Recruitment procedure for civilian crisis management experts to be reformed

The recruitment procedure for civilian crisis management experts to be sent abroad will be developed. The Government submitted a legislative proposal on the matter to Parliament on 2 September. The aim is for Finland to have at its disposal a sufficiently large, diverse and competent group of experts for civilian crisis management tasks. Attention will also be given to the impact of civilian crisis management work on the human resources of public sector employers.  

According to the proposal, a person employed by the State, a municipality or a joint municipal authority would still be entitled to leave of absence or exemption from work for the duration of a civilian crisis management task. However, the right would be limited so that the person would be entitled to leave of absence or exemption from work for a total of three years over a period of five years.

The right would also be extended to cover basic training in civilian crisis management provided by the Crisis Management Centre and the feedback event after the employment relationship has ended.

It is further proposed that for certain civilian crisis management tasks only persons who have not previously been in an employment relationship under the Act on the Participation of Civilian Personnel in Crisis Management could be selected as candidates and contracted as employees. The aim of the procedure is to make it easier for first-timers to have access to civilian crisis management tasks in order to increase the size of the available group of experts.

In other respects, no restrictions would be imposed on experts applying for civilian crisis management tasks. This would abolish the current practice which has required a break between civilian crisis management employment relationships.

This proposal is linked to the strategic theme of the Government Programme of Prime Minister Sanna Marin’s Government, according to which Finland is globally influential. One of the objectives of the Government Programme is that Finland will maintain and develop its capacity to take part in international civilian and military crisis management tasks in cooperation with other international actors.

Inquiries:
Tapio Puurunen, Chief Specialist, tel. +358 295 488 254, [email protected]