Tarja Halonen took office as the 11th President of Finland in March 2000 as that nation's first female head of state. She was elected to the Parliament of Finland in 1979, and held her seat in five consecutive elections until assuming the office of President. She has served as a minister in three cabinets (1987-1990, 1990-1991, and 1995-2000), and also has played an active role at the Council of Europe as Deputy-Chair of the Finnish Delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly (1991-1995).

Throughout her career, she has taken a special interest in issues of human rights, democracy, civil society, and social justice. President Halonen co-chaired the World Commission on the Social Dimension of Globalization, established by International Labour Organization in 2002. The Commission's final report, "A Fair Globalization: Creating Opportunities for All", makes recommendations aimed at steering globalization in a fairer and more "human" direction. The report deals with various aspects of the present debate on globalization, such as creating fair rules in the fields of trade, finance and the movement of people; expanding prosperity and employment; overcoming inequality; and increasing global security.

The U Thant Distinguished Lecture series is a forum through which eminent thinkers and world leaders speak on the challenges facing the world's peoples and nations in the twenty-first century. Previous lecturers have included the Prime Minister of Malaysia, President of South Africa, two former Presidents of the United States of America, and three Nobel Laureates. (Additional information about the series and its lecturers is available online at http://archive.unu.edu/uthant_lectures) The 8th U Thant Distinguished Lecture, one of several 2004 UN Day events to be held in commemoration of the 59th anniversary of the United Nations, is being jointly organized by United Nations University (UNU) Centre, UNU Institute of Advanced Studies (UNU-IAS), and the Science Council of Japan (SCJ).

A question and answer period will follow President Halonen's lecture. Simultaneous English-Japanese interpretation will be provided. Media representatives are cordially invited to attend; please confirm your attendance in advance.

For those unable to attend, the 8th U Thant Distinguished Lecture will be "webcast" live (and archived) at http://c3.unu.edu/unuvideo/index.cfm?fuseaction=event.home&EventID=42.