Updated: OSCE Chairperson-in-Office launches Helsinki+50 Fund

HELSINKI, 31 July 2025 – The OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Finland, Elina Valtonen, launched the Helsinki+50 Fund at the Helsinki+50 Conference on 31 July 2025. The aim of the Fund is to support the OSCE’s operational capacity and improve the strategic management of voluntary funding in the OSCE.

As of today, 16 OSCE participating States and Partners for Co-operation have pledged to the Fund. The contributions by Finland, Norway, France, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Austria, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, San Marino, Estonia, Malta, Thailand, Germany, and Switzerland amount already to nearly 16.5 million euros.

The fund focuses on improving the use of voluntary contributions (Extra Budgetary funding) in the OSCE. Extra Budgetary funding is an important and growing complement to the OSCE’s Unified Budget. Many key OSCE activities, such as support to Ukraine, human rights and democracy, are carried out in part through voluntary contributions.

“The OSCE has made significant contributions to conflict prevention, democratic development, human rights, and post-conflict reconciliation. But past achievements do not guarantee future relevance. We must seize this moment to make the OSCE more functional, relevant and resilient. The Fund helps to improve the use of voluntary funding for the OSCE to deliver on its mandate, rooted in our shared principles and commitments,” said Minister Valtonen.

Through the Helsinki+50 Fund, donors can fund activities across all OSCE Executive Structures and Autonomous Institutions, and all currently active projects and programmes.

Helsinki+50 Fund establishes an Annual Meeting for improved donor coordination and strategic level discussions on the impact of their voluntary funding. The meeting provides an opportunity to discuss how donors can support OSCE to deliver on its mandate, including in supporting Ukraine.

Overall, the Helsinki+50 Fund seeks to improve efficiency and support the trend towards larger, thematic activities as well as results-based planning and reporting.

More information

Toni Sandell
Spokesperson and Deputy Head of the Task Force for the Finnish OSCE Chairpersonship 2025
Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland
Tel. +358 295 350 748, toni.sandell@gov.fi