Ambassador Kari Kahiluoto heads the Secretariat for Nordic Co-Operation in the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland (PYS) and is the representative of Finland in the Nordic Co-operation Committee (NSK).

Ambassador Kari Kahiluoto was Ambassador Designate to Syria (Damascus) and Ambassador to Lebanon (Beirut), Jordan (Amman) and Iraq (Bagdad) 2013 to 2014, based in Beirut.

Kari Kahiluoto served 2009 – 2012 as Deputy Head of the Task Force established in the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland for the campaign to win a non-permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council for the term of 2013-2014.

Prior to the assignment to the UNSC Campaign Task Force Ambassador Kahiluoto served as Finland’s Ambassador for Human Rights and Democracy posted at the Ministry in Helsinki. In this capacity he was also the Point Of Contact of Finland for the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations.

Ambassador Kahiluoto was Permanent Representative to the Conference on Disarmament from 2005 to 2008 based in Geneva Switzerland and served as President of the Conference for the Finnish rotating Presidency in June 2012. He served as Deputy Head of Mission of the Mission of Finland to NATO in Brussels between 2000 and 2005.

Ambassador Kahiluoto holds a master’s degree in social studies (History) from the University of Helsinki 1985. He is First Lieutenant in the Finnish army reserve. He is member of the Sauna Society of Finland and Paasikivi Society and associate member of the London IISS.