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RR RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHLN
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DE RUEHHE #0489 3011504
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 271504Z OCT 08
FM AMEMBASSY HELSINKI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4619
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS HELSINKI 000489 
 
SIPDIS 
 
G/IWI FOR ANDREA BOTTNER 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KWMN PREL KPAO PHUM FI
SUBJECT: FINLAND:  NOMINATION FOR 2009 SECRETARY'S AWARD 
FOR INTERNATIONAL WOMEN OF COURAGE 
 
REF: STATE 99729 
 
¶1. (U) Embassy Helsinki submits the following nomination for 
the 2009 Secretary's Award for International Women of Courage: 
 
Full legal name of nominee:  Miranda Vuolasranta 
 
Job title/association: 
¶I.   Executive Director/Fintiko Romano Forum ry (FRF) 
National Roma Forum of Finland 
II.  Secretary General/Advisory Board on Romani Affairs 
(Finnish Government) since 1998 
III. Vice-Chair/European Roma Forum, Council of Europe 
IV.  Roma & Travellers Special Advisor/ Council of Europe 
 
Date of birth: March 15, 1959 
Country of birth:  Finland 
Citizenship:  Finnish 
Address:  Makelankatu 58-60 A, FI-00510 Helsinki, Finland 
Telephone:  358-44-33-77-102 
Email:  miranda.vuolasranta@romanifoorumi.fi 
Passport:  17007176 
 
¶2. (U) Justification for the award:  Miranda Vuolasranta 
takes an activist and leadership role in Roma issues and in 
minority-related domestic policy issues in Finland; she is 
also a leader in Roma pan-European issues at a time when the 
OSCE platform contains a tenet on Roma tolerance (Finland is 
Chairman-in-Office of the OSCE for 2008). 
 
Roma comprise 0.19 per cent of the Finnish population 
numbering about 10,000.  They are a National Minority of 
Finland and in 1995, they were guaranteed the right to retain 
and develop their own language and culture by an amendment to 
the 1919 constitution.  Roma population and statistics are 
only estimates because ethnic origin is protected under 
Finnish privacy law.  The biggest challenges to Roma in 
Finland are discrimination in housing, access to restaurants, 
education, and employment. 
 
Vuolasranta was born in Suolahti, Finland.  She moved to 
Sweden to complete vocational training and worked there as a 
teacher for both Roma and Swedish languages.  She returned to 
 Finland in the 1980's.  Vuolasranta proposed to the city of 
Helsinki that Roma language should be taught to the Roma 
children at the elementary school level. After some 
negotiations, teaching in Roma language started in 1989 and 
Vuolasranta was hired as a teacher.  She created the first 
ABC book in Roma language for the Finnish public schools in 
¶1995. 
 
In 2001, Vuolasranta became more politically active and was 
elected to the Helsinki city housing board.  She was a 
candidate for Parliament in 2006, but wasn't elected. No Roma 
have been members of parliament in Finland. In 2002, the 
Finnish League of Human Rights recognized Vuolasranta for her 
long-standing concrete work to improve human rights and 
equality.  Vuolasranta was the first ever Roma employee of 
the Council of Europe when she started work in its Roma, 
Gypsies and Travelers Division in October 2002. 
 
Vuolasranta is committed to bringing the Roma voice into any 
decisions made about the Roma future in Finland and in Europe 
and expresses concern at all levels that the Roma be included 
in work done by governments toward their integration.  One of 
her current concerns is the ethnic fingerprinting of Roma in 
Europe.  Her work is not easy; she wears the traditional 
costume, a decision Roma girls make around age fifteen as a 
symbol of purity, and stands out when she goes to meetings 
and travels with delegations.  The costume sometimes results 
in discriminatory remarks, but she is firm in her beliefs. 
She travels often, sometimes at the request of the Finnish 
government, to the Council of Europe and to other forums 
where she can champion Roma in their integration into 
European society and in protecting their human rights.  She 
is a frequent speaker at these forums and events. 
 
The mission strategic plan (MSP) for Helsinki contains two 
priorities that intersect with Vuolasranta's work:  Enhancing 
Regional Stability, which means supporting the OSCE goal of 
Roma tolerance, and Enhancing Mutual Understanding, which 
means supporting Roma work toward integration in Finland and 
in Europe.  Vuolasranta, in post's opinion, embraces tasks in 
Finland and around Europe that exemplify those goals. 
 
¶3. (U) Post confirms that Miranda Vuolasranta agreed to this 
nomination. 
 
BUTLER